Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Spritz Surprise

Happy Friday! This week’s drink is a little bit of an experiment. I’ve been eying making more spritzes for the summer since they go so well with basically everything this time of year. Plus, they can be low ABV so you can have a ton of them and still claim to be hydrating yourself in the summer sun! Also, this particular one gave me an excuse to tap into my herb garden. Aside from growing basil, rosemary and oregano, I also have two pots of mint going because mint grows like a weed and needs to be separated from the rest of the herbs. With that in mind, I wanted to go a little off the board and try a white wine spritz since most of the ones I’ve made are red wine or sweet vermouth based. I figured a dry white would be a good base, and added some lemon too, since I know lemon goes well with a sauvignon blanc, as well as mint.

Made up White Wine Spritz

4  oz. White wine (Sauvignon Blanc for me)

2 oz. Club soda

1 sprig fresh mint

1 Lemon slice.

Add wine to glass with ice and top with soda water. Squeeze in the lemon and garnish with the mint

Neutral nose, some slight mint and lemon mixed in the natural wine flavors. I thought there would be more lemon or especially the mint since it’s fresh from the garden. Though not getting smacked in the face by an overbearing mint smell is probably for the best, given how light this appears to be.

Did I say light? It is light on the additional flavors. It tastes like watered down white wine because that’s exactly what it is. I get some of the lemon juice adding some citrus-y sour notes in here which does compliment the dry white wine nicely. I wish the mint imparted some more flavor though. I think I need to muddle it next time, as opposed to clapping it a few times to release the oils in the leaves for their flavor. If I do that, I’ll be fine straining it as little bits of lemon floating around would be less than appealing from a visual perspective.

Another thing this has going against it, and is completely my fault is the club soda. I have no idea why club soda goes flat so quickly, but this one while it still had some carbonation that I tested before constructing mind you, doesn’t hold up. The carbonation the club soda is critical to the “spritz” element here. I think a little more bubble action would kick this up to a proper spritz and make it that much better.

So, overall not a bad first run at this experiment. To recap: Fresh club soda, more lemon and muddle the mint to get more flavor. There is something to build on here for sure, but this wasn’t exactly it. I did finish it though. I can’t waste good wine after all. Despite my best efforts to improve upon it.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)