Elderflower Spritz
Elderflower and soda over crushed ice, as close to a Hugo as you can get without the wine.
Photo: Elderflower and Mint Spritz - Bella Italia 2025-07-11 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 12 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 360 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 360 ml line. Elderflower cordial
- 120 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 120 ml line. Lemon juice
- 24 slices Cucumber
- 1800 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 1800 ml line. Soda water
- 12 sprigs Mint sprig (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Build the cordial, lemon and cucumber over crushed ice and top with soda.
Method
Batch (12 drinks)Batch (12 drinks) - about 2.28 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Fill a large wine glass or goblet with crushed ice.
- Pour over the elderflower cordial and the lemon juice and stir them down through the ice.
- Top with soda water, add two slices of cucumber and a sprig of mint, and serve it with a straw.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Elderflower Spritz
The Hugo put elderflower, mint and a lot of ice into a wine glass and made a whole generation of drinkers want a spritz that was lighter than an Aperol one. Take the prosecco out and you are left with what people were drinking it for in the first place - cold elderflower, a squeeze of lemon and something green in the glass.
Getting it right
Crushed ice is not optional here: it melts into the drink and dilutes the cordial, which is what keeps the whole thing light, and cubes in a large glass leave it sweet and flat. Serve it in the biggest glass you own, use more ice than you think fits, and drink it while the soda is still talking. Cordials vary in sweetness; taste the first one and adjust.
Tasting notes
Muscat-sweet up front, then dry and faintly green, with the cucumber making it taste like a garden rather than a bottle. The most celebratory drink in this book, and it costs about forty pence a glass.