The Spritz has lately had an impressive, multi-year run on the bar scene, but as you try to sip your way through to the end of another sweltering summer, it makes sense if the bright red bowl of ice and bubbles has gone a little flat. If you’re bored with the Aperol Spritz, or even if you never quite loved a spritz in the first place, there could be several reasons, but two of the most common complaints center on balance— either the spritz isn’t boozy enough for your tastes, or not refreshing enough.
The classic spritz is a simple drink: a mix of prosecco, amaro, and soda water in a 3-2-1 ratio. That ratio accomplishes everything a proper rendition must do: soda for a refreshing kick, amaro for depth and a boozy kick, and prosecco to round things out with sweetness and acidity. And yet, it also has the problem of being a little too simple, and being a little too cloying, which are criticisms that could also be leveled at the mimosa. There’s nothing wrong with mimosas, of course, but some mornings (and afternoons) call for a punchier drink, like Hemingway’s famous Death in the Afternoon (a super-chilled combination of champagne and absinthe).
Sometimes you want light and bright, sometimes you want bold and boozy. But regardless of how you want to spritz up a spritz, there are a few ways to do it. Here’s the hard truth: some people like a spritz because it’s a flavored prosecco drink, and that’s totally fine. But other people fall in love with an Aperol spritz for the Aperol, the way others fall in love with a Negroni for the Campari.
Lighter drinks are easy, because it’s predominantly about upping the soda and ditching the prosecco. Los Angeles-based Caer Maiko Ferguson, the general manager at Father’s Office and co-founder of Daijoubu Pop Up, recommends an amaro highball — essentially a spritz minus the sparkling wine. These drinks maintain the aperitivo-hour standard of a cocktail that’s relatively light on the booze, but they can also be punched up. “I love a Cynar and soda with a twist or a Campari soda with a lime,” says Ferguson. “And a Fernet and coke will mess you up.”
For something a little more complex—perhaps worthy of toasting National Spritz Day—Ferguson prefers a Rome with a View, a drink created in the early 2000s by Michael McIlroy of NYC cocktail pioneers Milk & Honey. The recipe calls for Campari, switches the Americano’s sweet vermouth for dry vermouth, and adds simple syrup and lime juice before topping with soda water. “It’s definitely the Aperol spritz’s mature cousin,” Ferguson says, explaining it as a “Collins meets a Negroni. It’s one of my all time favorite cocktails.”
Rome with a View
- 1 oz Campari
- 1 oz dry vermouth
- 1 oz lime juice
- 3/4 oz simple syrup
- Soda water, to top
Directions: Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, and strain into a Collins glass over ice. Top with soda and garnish with a citrus wheel.
Ally Brennan, Bar Lead at Murray’s Tavern in Austin, offered another cousin to the Spritz on a recent summer menu: the classic Americano. It’s a deceptively simple cocktail of equal parts amaro and sweet vermouth, topped with soda — think an effervescent Negroni without the gin. Brennan pitches it to patrons as a “slightly boozier and still enjoyable spritz.”
While Brennan offered her American with Campari, she also pointed out that drinks like the Americano are great for other amari, if you want to try something different. “You can swap out Campari for most amaros,” she explains. “Cynar makes a great swap. It adds a little bit of a darker vegetal depth to the Americano build, while also adding brightness. It plays well with most sweet vermouths and has a backbone like Campari.”
Which bright red amaro you select for your drink does matter, by the way. Campari tends to be considered the most bitter, with Aperol leaning toward the sweeter side of the spectrum. Ferguson loves Select Aperitivo — a Venice-born challenger to the likes of Campari and Aperol. “It’s a step bolder than Aperol,” Ferguson explains, “but more spritz friendly than Campari for most.”
As for the boozier drinks, Ferguson likes Select Aperitivo in a Siesta cocktail — essentially a Hemingway Daiquiri retrofitted with tequila and amaro. Another hybridized drink worth considering is the Palazzo Paloma, where the amaro stands in for lime juice.
Palazzo Paloma
- 1 oz Select Aperitivo
- 1 oz mezcal
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 4 oz Thomas Henry or Fever Tree grapefruit soda
- Pinch of sea salt
Directions: Fill a wine or balloon glass with ice. Add Select, mezcal, simple syrup, and top with grapefruit soda. Stir to combine, adding in a small pinch of sea salt as you stir. Optional garnish with a slice of grapefruit.
If you really just want to explore your favorite amari without rules, order a drink from your home bar, where you can experiment with what’s in your fridge. At home, private chef Maddy DeVita plays around with fresh syrups and shrubs to riff on the spritz. “ I’ve always been a vinegar lover,” explains DeVita, “so having a drink that was carbonated and sweet, yet punchy-tangy from the vinegar is practically my dream flavor profile. Shrubs lend themselves to using whatever fruits are in season.” DeVita, who is passing the hotter part of summer with a cocktail flavored by fresh strawberries and rhubarb, shared the recipes for her cocktail (which makes use of Amaro Montenegro) in a recent issue of her recipe newsletter.
Amaro and Shrub and Soda
- 2 oz Amaro Montenegro
- 1/2 oz strawberry rhubarb shrub
- Soda water
- Strawberry, halved with greens on for garnish
Directions: Fill your glass with ice and add amaro followed by strawberry syrup. Top with soda and use a long spoon to swirl the drink until evenly mixed. Garnish with a strawberry half.
It’s perfectly fine to love a spritz and to love how easy it is, of course — nobody’s saying you have to be making fresh syrups at home to appreciate aperitivo beverages. But if you’re not feeling it like you used to, ask your bartender for one of these drinks. Swap bottles at home and see what happens. Taste new amari — explore a new world. Amari can be a little intimidating, but the good news is that you’re unlikely to come across a bad one. And if you do, well, just add some prosecco and soda, and toss in some fruit.
G. Clay Whittaker is a Maxim contributor covering lifestyle, whiskey, cannabis and travel. His work has also appeared in Bon Appetit, Men’s Journal, Cigar Aficionado, Playboy and Esquire. Subscribe to his newsletter Drinks & Stuff for cocktail swaps, perspectives on drinks, and stuff.