The Hugo Spritz is a refreshing cocktail that can be enjoyed any time of the year, but it's especially perfect on hot days. It's a bubbly Austrian spritz drink made with a little elderflower, lime, and mint.
I can't remember how I first heard about the Hugo cocktail. Maybe I saw a photo online and it looked so good. But what sealed the deal was when I was watching a show where they were in Austria and talked about the cocktail.
I immediately realized it was the drink of the summer. This summer, next summer. Every summer.
The cocktail is bubby and has just the right amounts of mint and elderflower. The flavors are subtle, but come together so beautifully. I could drink these all year round.
Ingredients
- Prosecco - This is where part of the bubbly comes from!
- Sparkling water - You can use sparkling water, club soda, whichever you have on hand. I used Topo-Chico since that's what I had cold in my fridge already.
- Elderflower syrup or St. Germain - The drink typically uses elderflower syrup. I didn't have elderflower syrup, so I used St. Germain instead, which is an Elderflower liqueur. (We always have a bottle at our house!)
- Lime - Use lime slices in this drink and a little squeeze of fresh lime juice.
- Mint - Garnish with fresh mint leaves and it adds a nice aroma when you're sipping the cocktail.
- Ice - My refrigerator has a setting for crushed ice, so that's what I used. Regular cubes work great too.
How to make a Hugo spritz
Making the Hugo Spritz is really simple. It doesn't require a shaker, just some stirring.
All you do is add ice to a wine glass, add the elderflower, then top with Prosecco and sparkling water, add a tiny squeeze of lime, and then stir. I like to just stir with the straw.
Once you've stirred the ingredients together, add lime slices and mint, take outdoors, and enjoy.
Where did the Hugo Cocktail come from?
The Hugo spritz cocktail was created in 2005 by Roland Gruber at the San Zeno Wine & Cocktail Bar in Italy. So we have him to thank for this deliciousness.
Apparently it's really popular in that northern Italy/Austria region. I can see why. It's a sparkling drink that is pretty low alcohol, so you can have many on a summer afternoon. It's so cold and refreshing.
How to make the Hugo spritz more or less boozy
When I made the Hugo cocktail, I used equal parts Prosecco and sparkling water. That way it was moderately boozy, but I didn't worry about having a couple in the afternoon.
If you want to make it more boozy, use more Prosecco and less sparkling water. If you want to make it less boozy, use more sparkling water and less Prosecco.
Make a mocktail version
To make it a Hugo mocktail, use all sparkling water and no Prosecco and be sure to use elderflower syrup instead of St. Germain liqueur.
More cocktail recipes
- Aviation cocktail with creme de violette
- Classic Negroni
- Alaska cocktail
- Watermelon martini
- Texas Ranch water
- Fifty fifty martini
- Lemon drop martini
Hugo Spritz
Ingredients
- Prosecco
- Sparkling Water
- 1 tablespoon Elderflower syrup or St. Germain liqueur
- 1 Lime
- Mint leaves
- Ice
Instructions
- Take a lime and cut a few slices. Reserve the rest of the lime for squeezing into the drink.
- Into a wine glass, fill about halfway with ice cubes or crushed ice.
- Add the elderberry syrup/St. Germain to the glass.
- To the rest of the glass, add half prosecco and half sparkling water.
- Squeeze a little lime juice into the drink. Stir with a straw until combined.
- Add lime slices and fresh mint sprigs to the cocktail for garnish.
Notes
Nutrition
If nutrition info is shown, values are based on an online calculator and are estimates. Please verify using your own data.
Megan Myers
Making this tonight with lime La Croix!
foodbanjo
Oooh great idea!
Alyssa
This sounds delicious and I happen to have all the ingredients on hand! This might have to be my Friday night cocktail today! Thanks for all the boozy inspiration. Hope you and the family are doing well.
foodbanjo
Thanks Alyssa! Hope you're doing great too. Keep those cute dog pics coming on your Instagram! I love seeing those and what you're making!