Beyond the Aperol spritz: five cocktails perfect for spring
For a drink that feels as fresh and new as the season itself, try these cocktails with a daring dash of Venetian bitters, white port or cava
To my mind spring drinking is all about optimism: as the days slowly, almost imperceptibly, become longer and flowers start to bud and bloom, you want to cast off the dark beers, red wines and unctuous brown spirits for a drink that feels as fresh and new as the season itself.
1. A better spritz
Future cocktail historians may well date peak Aperol spritz to the summer of 2015-16. The drink has become so trendy in Australia it has been made with Moët, not prosecco, at the spring races – a tragic betrayal of the drink’s demotic nature.
Of course, this spritz fever is understandable. It’s hard to shake a taste for the spritz once it has been acquired – just ask the Venetians, who have been putting them away for almost a century. But just because the Aperol spritz is halfway to becoming the pumpkin spice latte of the cocktail world doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a cheeky spritz or two this spring: just swap out the Aperol for another Italian aperitivo bitter.
Select, the Venetian bitter that claims to be the original spritz base, makes an excellent spritz: dryer than Aperol with a hint of extra bitterness and a whisper of ginger on the palate. The wine-based Cappelletti gives a rounder, smoother spritz, and Amaro Montenegro makes a spritz loaded with tempting citrus and rosewater aromas.
For varsity-level spritz variations, pick up a copy of Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau’s book Spritz: Italy’s Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, which features more spritz twists than you might ever have thought possible – including a frankly incredible mai tai spritz from Martin Cate, the man behind the acclaimed San Francisco rum bar Smuggler’s Cove.
Make it at home: spritz Veneziano
60ml aperitivo bitter of your choice (Select, Campari, Cappelletti, etc)
90ml prosecco
30ml sparkling water
Build all ingredients in a tumbler or wine glass. Add ice. Garnish with green olives on a skewer and a slice of orange.
Pair with a movie: Bread and Tulips, directed by Silvio Soldini
2. White vermouth
If you’ve been mainlining single malts (Scottish, Japanese or otherwise) over the winter, your liver could probably do with a break from big, boozy drinks. If you’re not already aboard the vermouth train, now’s the perfect time to get on: a sweet white or “blanc” vermouth with its low-ABV balance of sweetness and bitterness just begs to be consumed on the balcony in the first warm evenings of the season.
Just pour a nice slug of it (60ml or so) over ice, add a slice of orange and a splash of soda to taste, and enjoy. If you’re after something a little more fancy, try it in the classic Cuban cocktail el presidente, below.
Tip: At the bottle shop, make sure you’re getting a sweet white rather than a dry vermouth – it’s easy to mix up the two. Casa Mariol’s vermut blanco, Dolin’s blanc vermouth and Regal Rogue’s bianco vermouth are all worth seeking out.
Make it at home: el presidente
60ml sweet white vermouth
30ml full-flavoured white rum (Havana Club or Plantation)
5ml (one bar spoon) curaçao or triple sec
2.5ml (one half bar spoon) grenadine
A dash of Angostura bitters
Build all ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice, stir and strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Express the oils from a twist of orange peel over the drink, then place in the drink to garnish.
Pair with an album: Tropical Discotheque by Sofrito
3. White port
If you’ve acquired a taste for port over the colder months, you don’t need to bid it farewell at the approach of warmer weather: just switch from red to white.
White port (the proper Portuguese kind, that is) has to be one of the most misunderstood products out there, which is a pity because it’s tremendously delicious, with loads of nectarine, apricot and lemon blossom on the palate, and is very easy to drink.
To bring a slice of Portuguese sunshine into your life, try a good splash of a young, dryish white port (again, 60ml or so) with tonic water over ice and a slice of lemon.
Make it at home: portonic
60ml dry or off-dry white port (the proper Portuguese stuff)
100–150ml quality tonic water (Fever-Tree, Capi Dry Tonic, or similar)
Build in a tall glass and add ice. Garnish with a nice fat slice of lemon.
Pair with a novel: A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson
4. Spanish cava
While we’re on the subject of unfairly neglected drinks, the emergence of Italian prosecco as a market force (sales of it overtook French champagne for the first time in England last year) has seen Spanish cava languishing here in Australia.
This is a shame, because a well-made cava – particularly one made from the traditional Catalonian grape varieties macabeu, parellada and xarel·lo – can be a delight: as dry as champagne without the French stuff’s sometimes overbearing acidity, with a funk and complexity from resting on its lees that most Italian proseccos can’t match (excluding the trendy col fondo style).
I adore Celler de Can Suriol’s brut nature, with its brioche notes and hint of funk from wild yeasts, and Vallformosa’s MVSA brut, which is loaded with crisp white apple and and straw characteristics. The best thing to do with it is to pop it open and drink it straight – but if you want to mix it up, try it in Alexandra Raij’s original cocktail the Montserrat.
Make it at home: the Montserrat
30ml Aperol
30ml sweet red vermouth (preferably Casa Mariol)
Cava, to top
Build Aperol and vermouth in shaker. Add ice and shake to chill. Double strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Top with cava. Garnish with a green olive and a brandied kumquat, if you have one to hand.
Pair with a movie: Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother), directed by Pedro Almodóvar
5. Russian spring punch
Whatever style of bubbly wine you prefer, for an easy crowdpleaser mix it up with some vodka, lemon juice, crème de cassis and sugar to make a Russian spring punch.
Created by the late and very great bartender Dick Bradsell (who was also responsible for the espresso martini, the bramble and the treacle), it was originally served as a BYO proposition: guests arrived to discover a flute preloaded with vodka, cassis, lemon juice and sugar, to which they could add their own sparkling wine. As Bradsell recalled: “People got to drink their whole bottle of champagne and however many shots of vodka they felt they could manage. It was lethal, that thing.”
If you don’t want your guests preparing their own deaths, it’s more sensible to mix it up in individual portions. Then raise your glass not only in memory of Bradsell but also to welcome the return of warm weather and long evenings.
Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
Make it at home: Russian spring punch
30ml vodka
15ml lemon juice
7.5ml crème de cassis (a good one makes all the difference)
10ml simple syrup
Dry sparkling wine, to top
Build all but the sparkling wine in shaker. Add ice, shake to chill, and double strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Top with whatever sparkling wine is going. Garnish liberally with fresh raspberries, blackberries, lemon slices and so on.
Pair with a novel: To the Hermitage, by Malcolm Bradbury
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