This Understated Spritz is the Spring's Best Non-Alcoholic Cocktail

While I initially ignored the Hugo Spritz, this April's "Recipe of the Month" has since quietly won me over and proved itself worthy of the season.

Photo by Greta Farnedi on Unsplash

I didn't listen. When the Hugo Spritz first started gaining attention, I shrugged it off. Too floral, too soft, too... popular? I kept turning toward other drinks while the Hugo quietly found its place in cocktail culture. But here I am, a few years late, telling you: the Hugo Spritz might just be the perfect spring cocktail.

The best drinks for spring are floral, bright, and refreshing—the kind of sippers that match the newness of the season—birds chirp, flower bloom, sun-rays break through the clouds. That kind of thing. The Hugo fits this bill perfectly. A mix of elderflower, mint, sparkling wine, and soda water, it’s light and aromatic, and seems tailor-made for those first warm afternoons when the coats come off and the patios fill up.

I initially came across elderflower drinks in Denmark, where they’re deeply woven into daily life and culture. Elderberry bushes grow just about everywhere, and many families still make their own syrup from the blossoms each spring called "Hyldeblomst Saft.” The flowers, gathered in full bloom, are steeped with lemon and sugar to create the fragrant syrup that’s mixed with water or wine and served at cafés or around the kitchen table.

So while I get the appeal, something in me resisted. But not for long.