Spritz: The Cocktail with Italian Fizz

Cool a wine glass by filling it up to three-quarters full with ice cubes. To speed up the process you can swirl the ice around the glass with a bar spoon (the classic bartender spoon with a long and twisted handle).
Drain the excess water from the mixing glass with the help of a strainer (the classic bartender spring used to hold the ice still and let the water inside escape).

Measure 2 OZ (60 ml) of Aperol with the jigger and pour into the glass.

Pour 3 OZ (90 ml) of Prosecco into the glass.

Add a splash of soda. 

Gently blend the ingredients by mixing with a barspoon, with one hand holding the glass' stem and with the other rotating the handle of the spoon against the inside of the glass.

Cut half a slice of fresh orange. Garnish using the fruit tweezers.

The History of Spritz

Spritz has quite a history. In fact, it was born during the Austrian domination of the Lombard Veneto region, between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, when the Habsburg soldiers began to sample Venetian wines, which they found too strong for their palates. And so, to sweeten the flavour, they thought it best to dilute it with sparkling water. The name derives from the German verb 'spritzen' which means 'to spray'. And so, the first spritz was born, a combination of white wine and sparkling water.

The first evolution took place in the early 1900s when the first siphons of seltz water spread and became an alternative to sparkling water.

But the cocktail that we know today was born only in the 1920s, when the idea of 'staining' the mixture with some bitters gave rise to two versions.

The more 'continental' one, in Padua, with Aperol; and the typically 'lagoon' one with Select, a bitter produced by the Pilla brothers. If the latter remains the proud prerogative of Venice, the former spread throughout Northern Italy since the 1970s, only to reach global success so much that it was included in the IBA lists (International Bartenders Association) with the name 'Spritz'.

Curiosity

Every town in Triveneto claims small differences in the recipe: if in Padua you go for sparkling white wine, in Treviso you can find Prosecco. In Venice instead the bubbles disappear and a still white wine is used, in Udine the Frulian Tocai is a must.

Variations

Assuming that there are different variations based on where you travel in the area, IBA recognises, starting from the official recipe, that you can replace Aperol with Campari, Cynar or Select, according to your personal tastes. The relationship between the various products and the preparation is the same, the main ingredient is simply replaced.