How delicious does this completely non-alcoholic Aperol Spritz mocktail look? It is made using Lyre’s Italian Spritz and de-alcoholised wine. This drink gives you a visual hit and it’s a taste sensation. The Ersatz Aperol Spritz is ideal for drinking with friends. It is very easy to make so let’s get started.
The classic Aperol Spritz contains Aperol, prosecco (the sparkling wine made in the Veneto region from prosecco grapes) and soda water, garnished with a slice of orange.
In the UK, you can buy all sorts of alcohol-free Nosecco drinks, but here in Australia we need to use one of several de-alcoholised sparkling wines found in bottle shops and supermarkets.
The Aperol company suggests a ratio of 60ml Aperol to 90ml prosecco and 30ml soda water. Others suggest equal Aperol to prosecco. I say, find your own favourite.
Ersatz Aperol Spritz Recipe
Ingredients
60ml Lyre’s Italian Spritz
100ml sparkling de-alcoholised wine
Soda water
Method
Fill a tall balloon glass with ice cubes, as much as you like.
Pour in the Italian Spritz and alcohol-free sparkling wine.
Add a splash of soda, or more if you like.
Decorate with slices of orange.
Slurp.
The Story of the Spritz
A spritz used to be what we called wine mixed with soda. More recently, the term spritz has become synonymous with the Italian aperitif Aperol. In fact, in 2018, the Aperol Spritz was ranked the ninth bestselling cocktail in the world by the website Drinks International.
Aperol was created in Padua in 1919 by the Barbieri brothers. The recipe is secret, but it is thought to contain gentian violets, rhubarb and cinchona bark, from which comes quinine.
Aperol is an aperitif. Aperitifs are dry drinks usually enjoyed before dinner with light snacks. Aperol is certainly dry, with strong, bitter orange flavours, as well as more complex herbal notes. Aperol itself is not high in alcohol, just 11%, so you could use simply Aperol and soda water to make a low-alcohol spritz.
Aperol was bought by Gruppo Campari and has become super popular since. (Campari, by the way, is bright red, stronger in flavour and twice as high in alcohol as Aperol.) Lyre Spirits makes an equivalent called Orange Spritz.
Find many more delicious alcohol free mocktails and drinks on this post.
