History of Spritz

02.08.2024

Spritz has rather dated origins. In fact, it was born during the Austrian domination in Lombardy-Veneto in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when Hapsburg soldiers became acquainted with the wines of Veneto.

A relationship that did not get off on the right foot: it was definitely too strong for their palates. And so to sweeten their taste, our guests thought well of "diluting" them with carbonated water. In short, there is the most sacrilegious practice for true wine lovers behind this cocktail, whose name in fact comes from the German verb spritzen, which means precisely "to splash."

White wine and carbonated water: this was the first Spritz, an Austro-Hungarian model. And watch out, because in many areas of Friuli Venezia Giulia if you ask for a Spritz they still bring you this. An early evolution occurred in the early 1900s, when the first Seltz water siphons became popular and became an alternative to sparkling water. But the cocktail as we know it today was not born until the 1920s, when it was thought to "stain" the mixture with a bitter.

SOURCE: lacucinaitaliana.it.