Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Think the Aperol Spritz is too bitter? Try the Hugo Spritz instead

Try this sweeter, herbal take on the classic Aperol Spritz

By
Hugo Spritz
Lazartivan / iStock

In the pantheon of effervescent, refreshing summer cocktails, it’s difficult to beat the overall appeal of a classic Aperol Spritz. First invented in Venice, Italy in 1920, this apéritif (before-dinner drink) is simply made with Aperol (a bittersweet Italian liqueur), Prosecco (an Italian sparkling wine similar to Champagne), and soda water. It’s crisp, thirst-quenching, bittersweet, and it helps prepare your palate for the meal ahead.

We understand why you would spend all summer (and the rest of the year) sipping on nothing but Aperol Spritzes and nothing else. But if you limit yourself to this apéritif cocktail, you’re really missing out. If you were to branch out and want to imbibe something with a similar (but less bitter) flavor profile, we suggest a Hugo Spritz instead.

Recommended Videos

What is a Hugo Spritz?

Hugo Spritz
Lazartivan / iStock

Also known as the St-Germain Spritz, the Hugo Spritz is a regional take on the classic Spritz. In Northern Italy, specifically in South Tyrol in the Dolomites, this drink is made with St-German (or locally made elderflower liqueur) instead of the usual Aperol. While most of the other ingredients remain the same, the drink also contains muddled mint (similar to a classic mojito).

Related

While the traditional Aperol Spritz can be traced to 1920, the Hugo Spritz is a contemporary cocktail. It was created in 2005 by a bartender named Roland Gruber in the town of Naturno. The city lies near the border of Italy and Austria. In the decades since, its popularity has spread between the two neighboring countries.

If you’re a fan of the Aperol Spritz, you understand that its main flavor gives the drink a bittersweet, citrus flavor. The use of St-Germain gives it a completely different complexity. The result is a sweeter, floral, more herbal version of the drink, which also enables the crisp, fruity flavors of the sparkling wine to shine. It remains refreshing, effervescent, and totally flavorful.

What you need to make a Hugo Spritz

  • 4 ounces of Prosecco
  • 1 ounce of soda water
  • .1/2 ounce of St-Germain Liqueur
  • 1-2 mint sprigs

The Hugo Spritz recipe steps

1. In a wine glass, add the St-Germain and mint springs.
2. Lightly muddled (don’t mash) to combine the flavors.
3. Add ice, Prosecco, and soda water to the wine glass.
4. Gently stir to combine all of the ingredients.
5. Garnish with a lemon wheel. Enjoy.

Bottom line

Mint leaves
Abby Boggier / Unsplash

While we still have a few weeks of summer, it would behoove you to give this fresh, seasonal take on the classic Aperol Spritz a try. It’s a sweeter, more herbal take on the refreshing, thirst-quenching cocktail. Try this drink in the early afternoon as a refreshing break from the day, or imbibe it right before dinner to prepare your palate for the savory meal ahead. It’s a welcome break from the bittersweet flavor of the traditional Aperol Spritz.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Christopher Osburn
Christopher Osburn
Writer
Christopher Osburn is a food and drinks writer located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. He's been writing professional
Try a raspberry take on a spritz with the Chambord Spritz
Try this take on a berry-flavored spritz
chambord spritz

This summer, as with every summer for the past few years, the Aperol Spritz has reigned supreme. Wherever people gather to drink, there's someone with a glass of distinctive bright orange spritz, enjoying the bittersweet flavors of the summer. But now with fall arriving in full force, you might be looking around for a alternative.

If you love a spritz but want a new take on the drink, then a fun suggestion is to try using Chambord in place of the Aperol. Chambord is raspberry liqueur, often spotted on bar shelves and standing out for its unusual bottle shape. It has the sweet fruity notes you'd expect from a liqueur, but it is based on XO cognac so it also has a dry, firm backbone.

Read more
How to make a mudslide: Your new favorite dessert cocktail
Who doesn't love a boozy dessert drink?
Mudslide cocktail

Among lots of cocktail fans, the trend is for drinks that are dry, bitter, or extremely boozy, such as a very dry classic martini. However, those drinks aren't to everyone's tastes -- and they aren't the only types of cocktail out there. If you find yourself indifferent to the charms of the strong and bitter drinks you see on most menus, or if you just want to try something new, then there's a whole world of fun and sweet dessert cocktails for you to try.

We’re talking about drinks like the grasshopper, White Russian, espresso martini, and the mudslide. And while we could go into length explaining the intricacies of every one of the cocktails we just mentioned, today we’re most concerned with the mudslide cocktail.
How to make a mudslide

Read more
Shaken vs. stirred: The ultimate cocktail showdown
Stirred or shaken depends on your desired result and what you're mixing
Dirty martini

Ever since Sean Connery strolled onto the screen as James Bond in 1964's Goldfinger and asked for his martini "Shaken, not stirred," people have been debating the right way to make a vodka martini. It's a subject that inspires bartenders to roll their eyes and plenty of drinkers to worry about whether they are ordering their martini correctly.

The truth is that most experts would strongly agree that a martini should be stirred, not shaken. Shaking a martini will give you a watery, cloudy, and frankly rather sad drink, while stirring it should result in a crystal clear, elegantly proportioned drink. But other cocktail recipes will specify that they should be shaken, not stirred -- especially if they contain fruit juice. That's because you need to pick the right method for the cocktail you're making. Shaken vs. stirred depends on what you're trying to mix.
Is it better to shake or stir?

Read more