Spritz

History of the Spritz cocktail

At the beginning of the 19th century, the region Lombardy-Venice was under the Austrian Habsburgs rule. Many soldiers and diplomats, therefore, lived in this region of northern Italy. However, oddly enough, Italian wines were too strong for the Austrians, they often asked that wines be diluted with a little water (spritzen in German). Here we find the origin of the name of the cocktail: Spritz.

If the word is German, adding water to wine is a very old Mediterranean practice, dating back to the days of Ancient Rome. The idea of a mixture of wine and water is still in the tradition. Indeed, it is a way for the elders to avoid drinking too much by opting at the end of the day for a classic Spritz where sparkling water and wine are mixed.

The Spritz then changed. At the start of the 20th century, it became a cocktail. Spritz began to be drunk as an aperitif and quickly gained popularity in all venues in Venice. More recently, it has spread throughout Italy. It is consumed a lot in Germany, France is getting there. Also, it is a very well-known aperitif in the United States and Asia, it is present in the best cocktail bars.

The Spritz cocktail recipe
To prepare this cocktail you need:
 – 6 cl of Prosecco;
 – 4 cl of Aperol;
 – 2 cl of sparkling water;
 – 1 orange slice. 

You just have to mix all these ingredients directly in a wine glass:
 – First put 3 or 4 ice cubes in the bottom of your glass, along with half an orange slice. Of course, consider choosing organic oranges, or at least cleaning the skin of the orange  – properly before placing it in your glass;
 – Then pour the fresh Prosecco, followed by the Italian aperitif Aperol in your glass;
 – Finally, finish the operation by adding a dash of sparkling water to your Spritz cocktail, until the glass is full.

The variations of the Spritz cocktail

There are many variations of the Aperol Spritz such as the Spritz Limoncello for which Aperol (or Campari) is replaced with the Limoncello, the Prosecco with Crémant and the orange slice with slices of lemon. It is also possible to replace the Prosecco with champagne and thus obtain an Aperol Spritz with Champagne. Or even use Martini Bitter to make a Spritz Martini.

More original, the Black Spritz is a Spritz with Cynar, an amber-black Italian bitter obtained from a mixture of artichoke leaves and thirteen herbs and aromatic plants infused in alcohol.

The Spritz included in the list of IBA official cocktails and classed as an Sparkling cocktail.