An Ode to Drinking in the Sunshine, plus some Spritz Recipes

Different weather calls for different drinks, and the Spritz is our pick for the summer.

I'm a seasonal drinker. Not in the sense that I drink more in some seasons than others (I'm a loyal year-round drinker). But in the sense that I drink different drinks in different weathers. When it comes to the warmer months I'm a gin girl through and through. I grew up with a mother who drank a Gin & Tonic every day at 6pm, and I have to say I proudly inherited that trait. Occasionally I get the feeling that the tonic is boring me a little. I'm yearning for something a little different. When I have my after-work drink in the Archie Rose Bar, the evening sun is low in the sky, the clouds are pinking, the air is still thick with the day's heat, and it's too early for a Martini, which means I've been delighting in a few house Spritzes the bar team have been slinging my way.

A Spritz is an old drink - it harks back to the start of the last century, somewhere in Europe. Let's not try and decree where, wars have broken out on the continent for far less. The Austrians have confidence in their claim that they invented it along with the schnitzel (don't let our Master Distiller Dave "Schnitty" Withers hear you talk about the origin of schnitzels, for goodness sake). The Italians would have you believe that only their bitter aperitifs deserve their righteous place in a Spritz, but a half glass of wine with a touch of sparkling water cannot be denied as a Spritz. Let's just say then that a true Spritz should have some sort of bubbles, and some kind of lower ABV ingredient, such as a wine or a vermouth. They also play very nicely with gin. If you think about it gin is a vessel of flavour - it's there to bring a splash of the botanic to your glass. In summer when the heat is too demanding, and you're sitting in the shade, bored of the same old G&T, perhaps what you're really searching for is a Gin Spritz instead.

When throwing a party in summer one useful piece of advice is to put a little work into a signature drink. We all remember great dishes at friend's parties, you can also go down in local folklore by putting a tiny bit of prep into a batched cocktail. Here are some unusual ways to enliven your next summer soirée.

The ratios below are for single drinks. To turn them into a batch for a party multiply everything by 10. Batch it all except for the soda and build the base with the bubbles just before you serve. Legendary status of party throwing will follow shortly after.

Samphire Spritz

This Spritz is all about freshness. Bush Gin is packed with herbaceous eucalypt flavour. Waxflower will shine through most other competing flavours and here the citric punch of yuzu and the fruit burst of a good Aussie riesling are no match for Archie Rose Summer Gin Project: Bush. Have a gnaw on the samphire garnish while you drink to add an extra punch of saline.

Ingredients:

• 45ml Archie Rose Summer Gin Project: Bush

• 15ml lemon juice

• 15ml yuzu

• 45ml dry riesling

• 15ml salted samphire syrup (see instructions below)

• 45ml soda water

• Samphire to garnish

Salted samphire syrup

• 5g salt

• 20g samphire

• 100g sugar

• 100ml boiling water

Method:

Dissolve water and sugar and salt and let the samphire soak overnight in the fridge.

Build over ice in a wine glass, garnish with fresh samphire and enjoy.

PODCASTING

This drink literally springs out of the glass abundant with fresh peas and Chartreuse. If you sit and count the botanicals in the drink brought to you by the Signature Dry Gin and Green Chartreuse combo you reach around the 150 mark. Herbaceous doesn't cover it.

Ingredients:

• 30ml Archie Rose Signature Dry Gin

• 20ml Green Chartreuse

• 10ml lime juice

• 45ml soda

• 5 snap peas

• Black pepper

Method:

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker (except for one pea pod for garnish), shake and strain into a wine glass. Add ice and top with the soda.

Garnish with a crack of black pepper and a pod of peas.

Peach and Rhubarb Spritz

This drink is utterly divine. Chop half a dozen peaches with the same number of rhubarb stems, add sugar until the fruit is just covered, chuck in around a litre of water (also until the fruit is just covered). Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. You should end up with a delicious syrup that will last a few days and make around enough cocktails to polish off your bottle of Archie Rose Summer Gin Project: Coast. You can play with this base. Citrus does wonders, as do hard spices or some fresh vanilla. Go nuts. In this simplified version the fruit gives some buoyancy to the already joyful and bright gin. A touch of wine with good acids such as a sauvignon blanc (something open from a couple of days ago will do the trick) is just the ticket. Build over ice. Enjoy the taste of summer.

Ingredients:

• 30ml Archie Rose Summer Gin Project: Coast

• 40ml peach and rhubarb citrus syrup (see instructions above)

• 30ml lemon juice

• 60ml white wine

• 40ml soda water

• Peach slices to garnish

Method:

Build over ice and garnish with some peach slices.

DISTILLERS IN THE SPRITZ

This is one of the easiest Spritzes to make. It requires no prep and everything is available year round (though for a couple of months of the year you might find the cost of limes bring a tear to your eye). It’s also delicious and sure to impress.

Ingredients:

• 30ml Archie Rose Distiller’s Strength Gin

• 20ml St Germain elderflower liqueur

• 15ml lime juice

• 45ml sparkling wine

• Two inches cucumber

• Mint Sprig

Method:

Muddle the cucumber in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add all other ingredients except for the sparkling wine. Shake and strain into a wine glass. Add ice, top with sparkling wine. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Blood Orange Spritz

This drink defines summer. The undisputed sexiest fruit - the blood orange has a short but triumphant season - 2018 has seen a relatively good crop of blood oranges. Orchards still have fruit which is often not the case when spring has bursts of high heat, the fruit turns soft and supply peters out. But this year we've had a mild start to spring, you should have blood oranges available for a month or so yet (just in time for Coast Gin, on sale 1 Nov). Reduce the juice over a low heat with a touch of vanilla and sugar and make a spritz below.

Use the pith and peel to make a bloody marmalade giving you the joy of blood orange all year round.

Ingredients:

• 30ml Archie Rose Summer Gin Project: Coast

• 20ml blood orange and vanilla reduction (see instructions above)

• 15ml lemon juice

• 3 dashes grapefruit bitters

• 10ml Aperol

• 45ml sparkling wine

• Blood orange to garnish

Method:

Build over ice in a wine glass, garnish with a wedge of blood orange.

Enjoy the envious looks of your neighbours.

POMEGRANATE SPRITZ

This drink is very easy to make. For lovers of Rosé wine this is a great use of two day old oxidised wine sitting in the fridge. Fruity yet dry it’s a perfect sundowner.

Ingredients:

• 30ml Archie Rose Signature Dry Gin

• 60ml rosé wine

• 20ml pomegranate juice

• 5-10ml sugar syrup (1:1 ratio)

• 45ml soda

• Garnish with rosemary and 3 red grapes on a skewer

Method:

Build all ingredients (except soda) in the glass, add ice and top with the soda.

Garnish with a rosemary sprig and 3 red grapes on a skewer.