Hugo Spritz
A Hugo Spritz is 25ml of elderflower liqueur, 90ml of cold prosecco and 30ml of soda water, built in a large wine glass full of ice with a slapped sprig of mint and a lime wheel, then stirred once. It holds about 1.5 UK units, a little less than an Aperol Spritz, and tastes floral where that one is bitter. Roland Gruber created it in 2005 as bar manager at San Zeno Bar in Naturns, South Tyrol, as an alternative to the Venetian spritz. His first version used lemon balm syrup, and elderflower replaced it. He considered calling it Otto and, by his account, chose Hugo at random. From South Tyrol it spread through north-east Italy, then into Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
Glassware: Copa Glass
Garnish: Mint sprig and Lime wheel
Ingredients
25ml
St-Germain or a similar elderflower liqueur at around 20% ABV. At 25ml the flower leads without the drink turning perfumed. Elderflower cordial in the same measure removes the alcohol from this part of the glass.
90ml
Brut prosecco at around 11% ABV, straight from the fridge. A bottle labelled extra dry carries more sugar than brut, and against the liqueur that tips the drink towards cordial.
30ml
Just opened, very cold and poured in last. It lengthens the drink and lifts the elderflower without thinning the prosecco much.
Instructions
Fill a large wine glass with ice.
Add the elderflower liqueur.
Pour in the prosecco gently, then the soda water.
Slap the mint sprig once between your palms and add it with the lime wheel.
Stir once and serve.
Expert Tip
Slap the mint once between your palms and drop it in. That bruises the surface enough to release its oil. Muddled mint tears, turns bitter and leaves green fragments floating in a clear drink. Load the glass with ice first. A big bowl packed with cubes keeps the prosecco cold; half filled, it warms quickly and the spritz turns flat and sweet. Pour the prosecco gently and the soda after it, then give one turn of the spoon. Every extra turn costs bubbles, and without them 25ml of a sweet liqueur tastes like cordial.
Behind the Hugo Spritz
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Roland Gruber created the Hugo in 2005 as bar manager at San Zeno Bar in Naturns, a town in South Tyrol, the German-speaking north of Italy. He meant it as an alternative to the Spritz Veneziano, the bitter aperitivo of the Veneto further south.
His first version used lemon balm syrup. Elderflower took its place, and the drink spread beyond South Tyrol into the rest of north-east Italy, then Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Gruber has said he considered Otto as a name and settled on Hugo at random.
The Elderflower Measure
25ml is less than most people expect. Elderflower liqueur smells stronger than its sugar suggests, and the flower reaches the front of the sip even at a small measure.
Push it much higher and the drink tastes of pot-pourri and sugar. At 25ml over 90ml of prosecco, the flower leads and the wine still holds the drink together.
Hugo Against the Aperol Spritz
Two spritzes compared
Modifier
- Hugo Spritz
- 25ml elderflower liqueur
- Aperol Spritz
- 60ml Aperol
Prosecco
- Hugo Spritz
- 90ml
- Aperol Spritz
- 90ml
Soda water
- Hugo Spritz
- 30ml
- Aperol Spritz
- 30ml
Character
- Hugo Spritz
- Floral and pale, no bitterness
- Aperol Spritz
- Bitter orange
Garnish
- Hugo Spritz
- Mint sprig and lime wheel
- Aperol Spritz
- Orange slice
UK units
- Hugo Spritz
- About 1.5
- Aperol Spritz
- About 1.7
| Hugo Spritz | Aperol Spritz | |
|---|---|---|
| Modifier | 25ml elderflower liqueur | 60ml Aperol |
| Prosecco | 90ml | 90ml |
| Soda water | 30ml | 30ml |
| Character | Floral and pale, no bitterness | Bitter orange |
| Garnish | Mint sprig and lime wheel | Orange slice |
| UK units | About 1.5 | About 1.7 |
The same prosecco and soda frame carries the Aperol Spritz, where the bitterness Gruber wanted to avoid is the point.
The Mint
One sprig, slapped once, dropped in. The slap breaks the oil glands on the surface of the leaves, so you smell mint as you lift the glass.
If the sprig has gone limp in the fridge, use a fresh one. A tired sprig gives almost no aroma, and the mint is half of what makes the drink smell like a Hugo.
How to Serve It
In a large wine glass filled with ice, everything poured cold, the soda last, stirred once.
For a garden table, measure the liqueur into the glasses ahead, keep the prosecco and soda on ice, and finish each one as it is handed over. A jug loses its fizz before the second round.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Elderflower LiqueurElderflower liqueur is fresh elderflowers macerated in spirit and sweetened; St-Germain, the bottle most of our recipes name, is 20% ABV with 180g of sugar per litre. That sugar makes it a liqueur in law and lets it stand in for syrup, which is why our drinks pour it at 7.5 to 25ml as a floral sweetener rather than as a base spirit.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
Who invented the Hugo Spritz?
Why not muddle the mint?
How does it differ from an Aperol Spritz?
Can I make it without alcohol?
Can I use elderflower syrup instead of liqueur?
How strong is a Hugo Spritz?
What glass should I use?
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Aperol Spritz
An Aperol Spritz is three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol and one part soda: 90ml prosecco, 60ml Aperol and 30ml soda water, poured in that order into a large wine glass packed with ice, with an orange slice to finish. That is the International Bartenders Association’s Spritz, with its splash of soda measured. Aperol is an Italian aperitivo at 11% ABV, bitter orange with rhubarb and gentian, launched by Luigi and Silvio Barbieri in Padua in 1919. The spritz habit in the Veneto is older; the usual account traces it to Austrian soldiers adding water to the local wine. Pour the prosecco first and the Aperol mixes as it goes in. A glass holds about 1.7 UK units.
Spritz al Bitter
A Spritz al Bitter is 90ml of prosecco, 60ml of Campari and 30ml of soda water, poured over plenty of ice in a large wine glass and finished with an orange slice. Three parts wine, two of bitter, one of soda. About 2.5 UK units. In Venetian bars, al bitter usually means Campari. The same glass can be built on Aperol, gentler and sweeter at 11% ABV, or on Select, created in Venice in 1920 and served there with a green olive. The ratio holds whichever bottle you pick. The name is German: spritzen means to splash or spray, and the drink began as wine with water added. Bitter aperitifs joined it in the 1920s and 1930s, and prosecco became the usual wine later still.
Elderflower Collins
An Elderflower Collins is 45ml of gin, 20ml of elderflower liqueur and 25ml of fresh lemon juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds, strained over fresh ice in a collins glass and topped with 90ml of soda, with a lemon wheel and a mint sprig. About 2.2 UK units. It is a Tom Collins with the sugar syrup replaced by elderflower liqueur, which sweetens and perfumes at once. No one is recorded as creating it. It spread after St-Germain launched in 2007 and put elderflower liqueur on back bars, and the Collins was an obvious frame to try it in. Measure the liqueur. At 20ml the drink is floral and still tastes of gin; at 30ml the elderflower takes over and no extra lemon brings it back.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026