Red Hot Spritz

COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS:
- 60 ml Vecchio Amaro del Capo (Red Hot Edition)
- 90 ml Prosecco (Chilled)
- 30 ml Soda Water (Chilled)
- 10 ml Fresh Lime Juice

GARNISH:

- Sprig of Mint
- Lemon Wheel
- Dried Chili
- Edible Flower

INSTRUCTIONS:
• Fill a wine glass with ice.
• Add the remaining ingredients.
• Give it a brief stir to combine.
• Garnish with a sprig of mint, lemon wheel, dried chili and an edible flower.

Cocktail author: just a standard spritz ratio with a unique amaro and a little twist, pretty sure somebody, somewhere came up with the same idea as me.

With spring finally here, it is time to start looking at light and refreshing cocktails, suitable for those warm days ahead. In recent years spritz, became synonymous with summer. It is a quintessential refreshment with endless possibilities to modify, twist and build on.

This time I wanted to try Vecchio Amaro del Capo (Red Hot Edition) in a 2-3-1 spritz template. The amaro brings deep earthy bitterness combined with herbaceous aromatics and packed with heat from the chili. It truly lays a unique foundation for the spritz. Balancing these bold flavours is light and fruity nature of prosecco with, that all important effervescence. Touch of soda water helps to lengthen the drink and further balance the bitter and sweet aspects of the cocktail. At this point the drink was quite good, but to my taste it was missing just a touch more of acidity, so I decided to add a bit of lime juice, which worked quite well. Feel free to omit it, if you think the cocktail is tasty enough, but for my particular taste, additional zingy tartness of lime lifted the drink up. Garnish wise, you can go crazy and let your imagination fly. I particularly love cool aroma of the mint working like a complete opposite of the chili, providing you with the refuge from the heat.

All in all, Red Hot Spritz might not be for everyone, but this bold take on a classic spritz is perfect for this transitional time of the year, when sunny weather is just around the corner.