Cousins - SPRITZ COCKTAILS - Spritz - Talia Baiocchi, Leslie Pariseau

Spritz: Italy's Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, with Recipes - Talia Baiocchi, Leslie Pariseau (2016)

SPRITZ COCKTAILS

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A more avant-garde breed, the spritz cousins adapt a wider variety of ingredients and techniques than the classic or modern, but embody the same bubbly, bitter, easy-going spirit.

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GLASS Collins ✵ GARNISH orange half-wheel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Campari, Sweet Vermouth

Though popular history dictates that the Americano was named for the American tourists who took to the eye-catching…

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GLASS Collins ✵ GARNISH orange wheel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Campari, Dolin Rouge, Carpano Antica, Pilsner

DAMON BOELTE Grand Army Bar, Brooklyn, NY
Damon Boelte’s clever twist on the Americano turns the…

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GLASS Collins


KEY INGREDIENTS: Averna, Aged Rum, Vanilla Syrup, Cold-Brewed Coffee, Egg White, Prosecco

Coffee is perhaps not the most intuitive base for a spritz, but this drink takes its inspiration from the traditional Italian pre-aperitivo—afternoon espresso—and manages to make it surprisingly brunch-appropriate. Dark, rich Sicilian amaro combines with aged rum and vanilla syrup to form a base not…

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GLASS snifter or rocks ✵ GARNISH orange peel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Egg White, White Rum, Simple Syrup, Fresh Lemon Juice, Fresh Orange Juice, Champagne or Sparkling Wine

Served as the sixth course of the Titanic’s final first-class dinner, the Punch Romaine’s claim to fame is a rather morbid one. Had it not been the palate cleanser between the meat and squab courses that April evening, it might have been better remembered for its famous originator—French chef Georges…

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GLASS Collins ✵ GARNISH cucumber ribbon or spear


KEY INGREDIENTS: Simple Syrup, Cucumber Slices, Salers, Dolin Dry Vermouth, Fresh Lime Juice

Each spring, for over a thousand years, Venice has celebrated its Festa della Sensa, or the city’s marriage to the sea. A ritual that…

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GLASS hurricane ✵ GARNISH grapefruit half-wheel and a cinnamon stick


KEY INGREDIENTS: Cocchi Americano, Perry’s Tot Gin, Fresh Lime Juice, Fresh Grapefruit Juice, Honey Syrup, Vanilla Syrup, Allspice Dram

MATTHEW BELANGER Donna, Brooklyn, NY
Matt Belanger likes to “shoehorn tiki into everything,” as he…

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GLASS Collins ✵ GARNISH orange half-wheel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Campari, Dry Vermouth, Fresh Lime Juice, Simple Syrup

MICHAEL MCILROY Attaboy, New York City, NY
A riff on the Americano blueprint, the Rome with a View…

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GLASS highball ✵ GARNISH orange half-wheel and 3 mint sprigs


KEY INGREDIENTS: Ginger Syrup, Fresh Lime Juice, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, Averna, Angostura Bitters

LEO ROBITSCHEK The NoMad, New York City, NY
While giving this recipe a test run, Leo Robitschek tried it out on a friend who declared the kicky gingery result so drinkable that even a kid would like it. He then suggested it might be served in a sippy cup to his own two rambunctious children…

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GLASS highball ✵ GARNISH lemon half-wheel and mint sprig


KEY INGREDIENTS: White Port, Tonic, Fresh Lemon Juice

The Portuguese White Port & Tonic contains the same aperitivo-driven spirit as the Italian white spritz and the Spanish gin and tonic. A mash-up of the two, this drink is a simple mixture of slightly off-dry port made from white grapes—most often used in pre-dinner cocktails or punch in Portugal’s Douro Valley…

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GLASS snifter ✵ GARNISH lemon, orange, or other seasonal fruit


KEY INGREDIENTS: Red Wine (full-bodied and dry), Lemon Syrup

Perhaps the Tinto de Verano (literally “summer red wine”) is Spain’s equivalent of a basic spritz. There it’s cut with gaseosa

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GLASS small rocks ✵ GARNISH mint sprig


KEY INGREDIENTS: Vodka (preferably a citrus vodka like St. George), Lemon Sorbetto, Prosecco

In the Venetian dialect, sgropin, meaning “to untie,” is a play on the duty of the digestivo drink to provide postprandial relief.…

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GLASS highball ✵ GARNISH orange peel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Egg White, Amaro Meletti, Grand Marnier, Fresh Lemon Juice, Orgeat, Angostura bitters

DAN SABO Ace Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
This cocktail was born from Dan Sabo’s simple desire to create a sour using the saffron-infused Amaro Meletti. Needing to balance the drink’s rich bitterness, Sabo added the cognac-based orange liqueur Grand Marnier, thus uniting two Alpine…

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GLASS highball ✵ GARNISH lime wheel and orange wheel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Campari, St. George Raspberry Liqueur, Honey Syrup, Fresh Lime Juice, Anderson Valley IPA

PAMELA WIZNITZER Seamstress, New York City, NY
An ode to Northern California, the Cold in the Shadows hints at San Francisco’s chilly umbra, even in the warmest of months. Each ingredient is connected to the region— the IPA from the Anderson Valley, Campari, whose headquarters are housed…

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GLASS Collins ✵ GARNISH orange twist


KEY INGREDIENTS: Aperol, Fresh Lemon Juice, Dolin Dry Vermouth, Honey Syrup, Gran Classico Bitter Amaro, Fresh Orange Juice, Egg White, Sparkling Wine

ISAAC SHUMWAY created for Tosca, San Francisco, CA
The Diamond Fizz was born around the turn of this century…

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GLASS highball ✵ GARNISH pineapple wedge and lime wheel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Red Wine, Fresh Pineapple Juice, Simple Syrup, Fresh Lime Juice

ADAPTED FROM the Stork Club Bar Book by Lucius Beebe
This drink was a favorite of Jinx Falkenburg, one of America’s first supermodels in the 1930s and 1940s, and was—according to her—popular amongst Mexican bullfighters. A regular at New York’s star-studded Stork Club, Falkenburg lent this recipe…

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GLASS Collins ✵ GARNISH orange half-wheel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Zwack, Fresh Orange Juice, Fresh Lemon Juice, Miller High Life

TOBY MALONEY The Violet Hour, Chicago, IL
Several years ago at a sports bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—spiritual home of the hipster—bartender Toby Maloney was introduced to the “bro-mosa,” an ironic play on the Mimosa consisting of Miller High Life and orange juice. He was happily…

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GLASS Collins or large tumbler ✵ GARNISH lemon wheel and brandied cherry


KEY INGREDIENTS: Rosé, Fresh Lemon Juice, Fresh Orange Juice, Giffard Pamplemousse Rose Liqueur

In the 1971 edition of Playboy’s Host & Bar Book by Thomas Mario, a recipe for a boozy pink lemonade peers out between…

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GLASS Collins or wine glass ✵ GARNISH basil and lime wheel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Basil-Infused Dolin Blanc Vermouth, Pear Eau de Vie, Fresh Lime Juice, Simple Syrup, Absinthe

ALEX DAY Death & Co., New York City, NY
The Tunnel Vision was born of Alex Day’s desire to create…

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GLASS Collins ✵ GARNISH orange half-wheel


KEY INGREDIENTS: Amaro Montenegro, Fino Sherry, Fresh Lime Juice, Simple Syrup

DAN GREENBAUM Attaboy, New York City, NY
Built with the sensibility of a Collins (spirit + citrus + sugar + soda), the Second Serve is Dan Greenbaum’s nod to the soft-hitting elegance of tennis. Crisp, refreshing fino sherry mixes with sweet, herbal Montenegro, and is stretched into…

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GLASS Collins ✵ GARNISH orange slice


KEY INGREDIENTS: Campari, Fresh Lemon Juice, Simple Syrup, Vermouth

BOBBY HEUGEL Anvil and The Pastry War, Houston, TX
Combining the spirit of the Americano with the attitude of a sour, Bobby Heugel’s Bitter Intentions is a playful riff on two classic cocktail archetypes. Because Campari can skew sweet, the addition of lemon mellows the combination but still…