Hugo Spritz

South Tyrol's floral answer to the Aperol Spritz, this contemporary classic brings Alpine meadow freshness to the Italian spritz tradition.

The Hugo Spritz was created by Roland Gruber, the owner and bartender of the Kränzlhof bar in Naturns — a small town in the South Tyrol province of northern Italy, where German and Italian cultures have coexisted since the region was transferred from Austria to Italy after the First World War — around 2005. Gruber developed the drink as a lighter, more botanical alternative to the Aperol Spritz that was already dominant in the regional aperitivo scene, combining Prosecco with elderflower syrup or liqueur, fresh mint, a squeeze of lime, and soda water. The drink spread through the German-speaking world rapidly, becoming a genuine rival to the Aperol Spritz in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland through the late 2000s. St-Germain, the elderflower liqueur produced from hand-harvested blossoms in the French Alps and launched by the Cooper Spirits Company in 2007, gave bartenders outside South Tyrol a readily available elderflower spirit to work with, driving broader adoption of the Hugo format. The drink is now considered South Tyrol's most successful cocktail export and remains a standard aperitivo menu item across Central Europe. The name Hugo has no specific documented meaning in relation to the drink — Gruber has stated it was simply a name he liked — but the combination of fresh mint, citrus, elderflower, and sparkling wine produces one of the most refreshing and botanically distinctive Spritzes in the category.