Six Delicious Spritzes to Make This Summer

Here in Switzerland, the streets are lined with people drinking Aperol Spritzes on a sunny day. The other favourite is a Hugo – which is similar to the St. Germain Spritz above, but uses elderflower syrup with the prosecco and sparkling mineral water, usually served with a sprig of mint leaves!

The “Gespritzter” or white wine spritzer is also available at any bar – which either comes “sweet” with Citro (a pop like Sprite) or “sour” with sparkling mineral water. All lovely for summer days!

For alcohol-free, a favourite is a Schorle, which is basically sparkling apple juice. It’s typically premade – though you could make it with apple juice and sparkling water. Not as heavy as apple juice, which is so refreshing! Back in North America, my mom would mix cranberry juice with Ginger Ale, and it is always a big nostalgic favourite too.

When we were working in Spain we rediscovered the white wine spritzer – perfect for long lunches that sometimes turn into long afternoons and everyone feels just a bit *merry* instead of totally wasted. It will be my go-to this summer in Australia when I’m breastfeeding and I can time just one little spritzer to celebrate the sunshine!

love a bellini!

I’ve started making my own lemon-mint spiked seltzers.

In a tumbler add:
1 shot lemon infused vodka
1 shot lemon juice
Ice
Mint leaves
Fill the glass with seltzer*

*we have a soda stream, which we LOVE. I recommend buying from Bed, Bath & Beyond with one of their coupons. Then, about every 6 weeks we need to swap out the carbonation cartridges and use their “$5 off $15 purchase” which makes the refills $10! For (at least) 6 weeks of unlimited bubbly!!

**I also recommend dicing up a strawberry and add it to your drink if you have one on hand!

In Sweden where I live, there is an alcohol monopoly so only one government controlled company sells alcohol outside restaurants and bars. Loads of pros and cons of course, but the best part is that they are always well stocked with non-alcoholic options. “Nosecco”, 0% rose, and several different ciders are available. I always have a bottle of alcohol free Rose in my fridge during summer as I live next doors to a huge park and there is always something to celebrate. I don’t like soda and water can be boring, so sipping ice cold rose without constantly drinking alcohol is BRILLIANT.

watermelon (whizzed in blender) + thai basil simple syrup + something fizzy

Jenny, what is the difference is between soda water and club soda (you have both listed in the recipes)? Is there a difference?

Jo, a suggestion for a future post – grown-up, non-alcoholic drinks. I’m allergic to alcohol and sometimes get frustrated at the lack of options. Whenever people talk about sitting back and relaxing with a drink, it’s assumed that alcohol needs to be included. The choices are usually pop (soda) or a cocktail without the alcohol (a virgin margarita is just an expensive Slurpee). After a hard day’s work, sitting down to enjoy a Pepsi just do it for me. Thanks!

That cucumber-ginger fizz is going on my summer recipe list! Love ginger in anything.

When my husband and I went to Venice we stayed at an AirBnb whose host took us for a coffee in the early afternoon. My husband was starving after a long flight, and so ordered a croissant and a spritz. Our host could not contain her laughter. “Croissant and a spritz?! Croissant and a SPRITZ?!” I’ll never forget her glee.

Oh, I feel like we are so lazy at our house. We wanted to cut down wine-with-dinner consumption so we just halve chilled rose or white wine with cold LaCroix (faves are apricot, mango and especially passionfruit). Thanks for the post to inspire us to get slightly more creative and tasty!

I’m feeling like low and no alcohol cocktails are becoming a thing and I’m here for it. I’ve been wanting to experiment with some of the non-alcoholic spirits (like Seedlip) that I’ve seen recently. I’d love to hear if anyone has recipes using them!

I mostly just drink water, but in the summer I like to make rhubarb sodas. Boil chopped rhubarb with a little water, fresh ginger and lemon pepper if you want, and sugar until it’s mush, strain and pour syrup over ice and sparking water. It’s a beautiful pink and so refreshing.

As one of the sober curious out there, I definitely opt for special and alcohol free. Lately I’ve been very, very into bitters. Take a gorgeous glass, a huge amount of crushed ice, a coupe dashes of bitters and a lime wedge or Luxardo cherries to garnish. Just ordered some lavender bitters and some jalapeno lime bitters. Low sugar and really, really refreshing.

My husband and found our favourite one on a trip to Japan. You mix 1 part Choya Umeshu, a Japanese Plum wine (seems very fancy but you can actually get it from Wholefoods in the US) with either 2 parts soda water or 2 parts sparkling wine. It is so delicious! and easy to feel like you are having a fancy drink without the 5 shots in a cocktail. I urge everyone to make one! Not too sweet and perfectly plum-esque.