Six spritzes to put a zing into spring

Here are the tastiest tipples for springtime socials. Seek and savour, says Sam Wylie-Harris

With spring winking at us from around the corner and blossom coming out big time, it’s hardly surprising we’re hankering after trouble-free tipples. Or perhaps something super refreshing to make you want to kick up your heels and celebrate the change in season.

From tweaking the bright flavours of white wine spritzers, to swapping out a glass of red for a vermouth garnished with a stem of lemon thyme to elevate the sweet and sour, spring spritzes are suddenly sounding very appealing.

Here’s what’s putting us in a sunny mood:

1. Hotel Starlino Orange Spritz

Italy in a glass, think sun-kissed Sicilian blood oranges, lemon peel, herbs and spices – this wine-based aperitif is capturing our attention with its deliciously zesty aromatics. Simply add 25ml Hotel Starlino Orange Italian Aperitivo (£19.95 for 75cl, Amazon) to a large wine glass filled with ice. Top up with 25ml sparkling wine and 25ml soda water, and garnish with a slice of orange.

2. Fever-Tree Cucumber Spritz

With new shoots sprouting and fresh greens coming into season, the clever folks at Fever-Tree have taken the classic green apple and gooseberry flavours you find in a sauvignon blanc and enhanced them with a stream of cucumber-flavoured tonic and shot of St-Germain elderflower liqueur.

Easy-peasy to make, half-fill a copa glass with ice, add 60ml sauvignon blanc, three teaspoons St-Germain elderflower liqueur (or to your taste), top with Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Cucumber Tonic (£4 for 8 x 150ml cans, Waitrose) and garnish with a cucumber ribbon and lemon wedge. Light, bright and delightfully refreshing.

3. Mermaid Pink Gin Rose Spritz

For a vibrant, strawberry-scented spritz that’s deliciously uplifting with a little hit of warm spice on its tail, take 25ml Mermaid Pink Gin (£38 for 70cl, John Lewis), 25ml rose wine, 5ml grapefruit syrup and pour over ice. Stir slowly, top up with tonic water, and garnish with a pink grapefruit segment. It feels distinctly summery as the tonic ferries the sweet aromatics of the pink gin, with herbaceous botanicals and gentle juniper in the mix.

4. Pineapple Sherbert Spritz

A pineapple-flavoured gin liqueur built around the fizzy sweetness of sherbet,

TW Kempton Pineapple Sherbet Gin Liqueur (£9.99 for 50cl, Tesco) has a zingy fruitiness that’s really fun. An exotic refresher, top with tonic to mellow the sweet taste, or zest it up for full-on flavour and fill a large wine glass with ice, add 50ml gin liqueur, 25ml pineapple juice, 10ml lemon juice, 10ml vanilla syrup. Top with soda and garnish with a pineapple wedge.

5. Bolney Hedgerow Spritz

If you’re looking for the next best thing to Italian vermouth, Bolney Wine Estate’s Rosso English Vermouth (£19 for 75cl, Bolney Wine Estate) marries all those bittersweet botanicals with sloe and blackcurrant flavours, and has plenty of spring hedgerow charm with hints of blossom and berries.

Delicious served neat over ice, topped with tonic and garnished with a stem of lemon thyme, or mixed with Bolney’s English Sparkling Wine and topped with tonic. There’s also a Hedgerow Spritz Cocktail Kit, priced £57, which includes Bolney Bubbly, Rosso Vermouth and six Indian tonic waters.

6. Kocktail The Spritz Collection

When it comes to fancy ingredients, who doesn’t love a cocktail when all the hard work has been done for you? What we like to call lazy libations, ready when you are –and new on the cocktail menu, Kocktail’s Spritz Collection (£29, Kocktail) features four spritzes.

There’s Rhubarb & Cucumber Spritz, with three dashes of grapefruit bitters rounding out the flavour profile. The delightfully scented Lychee & Elderflower Spritz, with hints of rose water. Venice Beach Spritz, with the natural sweetness of honey and passionfruit tempered by the pleasing bitter-sweetness of Campari, and Earl Grey Spritz, featuring Noveltea’s alcoholic Earl Grey Tea with Gin, paired with cucumber syrup, vermouth and citron vodka for a delicately balanced spritz. Cin-cin!