What Is A Spritz? Refreshment Personified

What is a Spritz?

You may be asking yourself, what is a spritz? A spritz is a prosecco-based cocktail made with prosecco, a bitter liqueur such as Aperol, Campari, Cynar, and sparkling soda. As an extra garnish, you can put an orange wedge on top of it. You can serve a spritz in a wine glass, lowball glass, or martini glass with ice.

How to Make a Spritz

Ingredients

• 1 chilled bottle of prosecco
• 1 Aperol spritzer
• Soda (from a siphon or a cooled bottle)
• Cubes of ice
• An orange 

Directions

1. Fill tall balloon or wine glasses halfway with ice cubes.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine prosecco and Aperol in equal parts.
3. Add a splash of soda to the mix.
4. Serve with an orange slice and an olive on a stick if you’re cooking it the way the Venetians do.

You need to learn how to make Aperol Spritz. While many people feel the 3:2:1 strategy is the best when making spritz, you should consider the 50:50 method instead. Many think that the new mix enhances the flavor of an Aperol Spritz while also reflecting its Italian roots.

What Does Spritz Taste Like?

The bittersweet flavor of the Italian spritz is brilliant with flavors that are typical of its origins, like sunshine. Rhubarb’s complex and astringent flavors help balance the sweetness of orange, resulting in a dry and refreshing finish.

Aperol Spritz Ingredients

You need four essential components, plus ice for these cocktails.

1. Aperol: Only Aperol will suffice in this situation. You may be asking yourself: what is Aperol? Aperol is an apéritif that is vivid orange. “Zesty orange with deep herbal fragrances balanced with a hint of vanilla,” according to the brand. At the liquor store, look for Aperol near the liqueurs or amaros.
2. Prosecco glass: Prosecco is a low-cost sparkling wine from Italy, like Spanish Cava or French Champagne. To avoid the cocktail becoming syrupy or sweet, I recommend picking a dry (brut) prosecco. 
3. Soda club: Any sparkling water that isn’t flavored will suffice for a bit of fizzy dilution. For this, I keep cans of sparkling water in my pantry.
4. A fresh orange slice: You can leave it out a fresh orange slice if you don’t have one, but an orange slice is a traditional garnish for an Aperol spritz.

Aperol Cocktail Recipes

Although we enjoy an excellent Aperol spritz, it’s not the only Aperol cocktail worth trying. In a wide range of drink creations, you can use Campari’s milder sibling, the bittersweet and citrusy Italian liqueur.

Its exquisite sharpness goes well with almost any beverage you can think of: gin, bourbon, tequila. While the spritz and its many superb versions are ideal for hot days, there are plenty of other Aperol cocktails that work well in the cooler months as well. Must we pour one and begin to sip?

Bittersweet Symphony (Gin and Aperol Cocktail)

If the Negroni is a little too strong for you, Aperol drinks like this one might be the answer. An extra dash of gin softens the bitterness of this soft drink, while herbaceous Punt e Mes adds complexity. It’s a fun take on a traditional cocktail that we like.

Bird of Paradise

Have you had a Jungle Bird before? Go ahead and make that—fantastic—then it’s come back and create an even more refreshing version with Aperol, pineapple juice, fresh lime, and overproof rum.

Raspberry and Aperol Float

you can use Aperol or Campari to make these effervescent, thyme-scented ice cream floats. Both are pretty enjoyable.

Paper Plane Cocktail

Many refer to this drink as a modern classic, and almost everyone who has tried it agrees that it is delicious. To make it, mix Aperol, bourbon, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice in equal portions and shake till cold.

Aperol Mist

Hefeweizen lends a creamy smoothness to this Aperol Spritz, while a splash of lemon adds brightness.

Rosé All Day

A pleasant, sweet cocktail made with strawberries, rosé, Aperol, and slight carbonation.

Division Bell

In this mezcal cocktail, you balance earthy smoke with rich, almondy maraschino liqueur, bittersweet, orangey Aperol, and acidic lime.

Say Anything

Spicy tequila meets Aperol and watermelon in this sophisticated cocktail recipe from Brooklyn bartender Ivy Mix.

Aperol-Kombucha Cocktail

This is a large-format spritz cocktail with more liquor (gin, tequila, or mezcal) plus the tang of kombucha, particularly ginger or lemon-flavored. There’s no need for prosecco.

The Spring Spritz

In this simple spritz recipe, fresh grapefruit juice balances out the sweetness of Aperol. It’s perfect with a late-afternoon BBQ.

A Brief History About Italian Spritz

The spritz has been around since the late 1800s. The drink came up first in the Veneto region of Italy, which was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. The word spritz refers to how Austrian soldiers prepared the Italian wine they were drinking. 

They thought it was too powerful, so they added a spray (a spritz) of still water to make it more drinkable (and closer to the alcohol concentration of the beer they love most). The drink evolved throughout time. Still, sparkling soda was the water replacement. Later, prosecco was the replacement for sparkling soda. They added fortified wines and liqueurs like Aperol.

Many people create the spritz with local white wines such as Pinot Grigio, Soave, or prosecco in today’s Veneto. Aperol, Gran Classico, Select, Campari, or Cynar are examples of bitter liqueurs. If you order a spritz in Venice without specifying the bitterness, they will serve you a spritz with Select.

The Different Types of Spritz You Need to Try

It’s doubtful that you’ve gone through the last few summers without trying an Aperol Spritz. The effervescent orange beverage has become a staple on bar and restaurant menus and at backyard parties and other gatherings.

Yet, the spritz genre comprises far more than the ubiquitous orange cocktail. Its definition has changed as it has expanded outside of Italy. The spritz is an aperitivo cocktail created with a bitter liqueur, prosecco, and a splash of sparkling water in its most classic form. 

You may substitute one of the ingredients (for example, a sweet liqueur instead of bitter, or a still wine instead of effervescent). It’s normal to add extra ingredients or flavors. The opportunities are limitless. The message is that you are free to disregard all previous regulations. It’s fair to call a drink a spritz if it’s alcoholic and effervescent and suitable for late-afternoon consumption.

These are nine of our personal favorites:

Aperol Spritz

This simple drink is the most widespread member of the spritz genre, and you can find it almost anywhere these days. Remember the 3-2-1 formula: three ounces(0.09 kilograms) of prosecco, two ounces(0.06 kilograms) of Aperol, and one ounce(0.03 kilograms) of soda water. Use alternative bitter liqueurs instead of Aperol for a fun touch; artichoke-based Cynar is a terrific choice.

Bicicletta Cocktail

This classic aperitivo is like its more popular Aperol cousin, except instead of prosecco, it combines still white wine and Campari instead of Aperol. Aside from that, the formula is the same. The drink’s name comes from a pair of orange slices that serve as “wheels.”

St-Germain Cocktail

This drink sweetens the spritz by substituting elderflower liqueur St-Germain for the Italian bitter. You can make it with either still wine or prosecco for a more festive touch, as it was in its original form. To add more bubbles and length, top it off with soda water.

Channel Orange Cocktail

Barnacle, a Seattle amaro-focused bar, created this spritz version. This spritz is far more sophisticated than your ordinary spritz, as it asks for three different bitter liqueurs, as well as grapefruit soda instead of soda water to bring out the flavors. Prosecco, on the other hand, is a constant.

Aperitivo #1

This recipe comes from Dante, an award-winning bar in New York City. Its basis is tequila and Aperol, with Lillet Blanc and Bianco vermouth providing the wine component. You can add Orange juice, passion fruit purée, mango vinegar, and orange flower water to the mix. Finally, add the sparkling water and a spritz of orange blossom water.

Tomato Spritz

Tomatoes are the critical taste component in this peculiar spritz in tomato water and a shrub. The gin and vermouth provide the alcoholic backbone. You can top the spritz with prosecco and soda water.

Negroni Sbagliato

If you enjoy a Negroni, this large-format spin on the bubbly version of the traditional cocktail will become your new summer favorite. In a punch bowl, combine one bottle of Campari, one bottle of sweet vermouth, and one bottle of prosecco, along with ice and whichever seasonal fruit you want.

Scarlet Spritz

This cocktail has a lot of surprise flavors in it. You need to combine Aperol, Lillet blanc, and rhubarb bitters filter them into an absinthe-rinsed glass before topping them with sparkling wine. A lemon twist and a strawberry garnish hint to the luscious delights inside.

Hugo Spritz

To make this, you add a muddled mint sprig to the mix of elderflower liqueur, prosecco, and soda water in this spritz. This is a spin on the St-Germain cocktail. A colorful and festive garnish includes an extra mint sprig and a lemon wheel.

The Final Say

The beautiful thing about a spritz is that it’s not too sweet or harsh on the palate. Prosecco‘s sweetness and Aperol’s bitterness balance each other out to create a zesty, effervescent, pleasant drink that goes well with any meal.

You can consume spritz is as an aperitif (before a meal) or as a digestif (after a meal). It helps enhance hunger and prepare your body for indulging before a meal. It helps to assist digestion when you consume it after a meal. But I’d recommend drinking spritz at any time of day because it’ll taste as fantastic whether you have food with it.

Though spritz is most prevalent in Europe, particularly in southeast Italy, it is also available in many places in the United States. You can also create it at home. Read our article and find out 23 CLASSIC Italian Cocktails To Make at Home.