| Type | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Primary alcohol by volume | |
| Served | On the rocks; poured over ice |
| Standard garnish | |
| Standard drinkware | Old Fashioned glass |
| Commonly used ingredients |
|
| Preparation | Stir into glass over ice, garnish and serve. |
The Spritz (German: "splash" / "sparkling") is a wine-based cocktail commonly served as an aperitif in northern Italy, especially in the Veneto region and surrounding areas. The drink is prepared with white wine (generally a Pinot Grigio delle tre Venezie or Tocai) or Prosecco wine, a dash of some bitter liqueur such as Aperol, Campari, Gran Classico, Select or Cynar. The glass is then topped off with sparkling mineral water. It is usually served over ice in a lowball glass (or sometimes a martini glass or wine glass) and garnished a slice of orange, or sometimes an olive, depending on the liqueur. Another variation of the drink uses champagne with the liqueur rather than wine. The drink originated in Venice while it was part of the Austrian Empire, and is based on the Austrian Spritzer, a combination of equal parts white wine and soda water. More recently it became the traditional drink of the students of the University of Padua. In recent years it has also become extremely popular in southern Germany, with Aperol as the aperitif of choice in Munich and Stuttgart.