The Hugo Spritz is a featherlight aperitivo: dry Prosecco lifted with a splash of elderflower cordial, lengthened with soda, and woven through with fresh mint pressed in the glass. Crisp, floral and barely sweet, it drinks like a Spritz that has traded its bitter edge for blossom and cool green mint.
Garnish: Mint Sprig, Lime Wheel
Stirred · Wine Glass · On the Rocks
muddle
Add fresh mint leaves to a chilled wine glass and lightly press to release their aroma without shredding.
build
Fill the glass with plenty of ice cubes.
add
Add the elderflower cordial, then the chilled Prosecco, then the chilled soda water.
stir
Stir gently over the ice to combine without knocking out the carbonation.
garnish
Top with a fresh mint sprig and, if desired, a lime wheel.
Roland Gruber, who ran the San Zeno Bar in the South Tyrolean town of Naturns, came up with the Hugo in 2005 as a local answer to the spritz of the Veneto. Lemon balm syrup is recorded as an early sweetener before elderflower became the standard, and many modern recipes now reach for elderflower liqueur in place of the syrup. From that single bar the drink went on to become a summer fixture throughout the Alps.