Three spritzes, no alcohol, all of them built on fruit you can buy at the corner.
A spritz is just something with flavour, something bitter or sharp, a lot of fizz and a lot of ice, in a big glass. The wine was never the point. The fizz and the big glass were. So here are three that swap the wine for mosambi, jamun and kokum, each for one tall glass.
How do you make a spritz without alcohol?
Same shape as always. Roughly: a splash of flavour, a squeeze of something sharp, twice as much soda, a pinch of salt, and far more ice than feels reasonable. Build it in the glass, stir once, don't fuss.
The salt is the trick nobody tells you. It makes fruit taste more like itself.
1. The smoky mosambi spritz
- 60 ml fresh mosambi juice (about one sweet lime)
- 15 ml fresh lemon juice
- 10 ml simple syrup, or skip it if your mosambi's sweet
- a pinch of salt
- 120 ml cold soda
- one lemon wheel, charred
Hold the lemon wheel over a gas flame with tongs until it blackens at the edges. Fill a tall glass with ice. Add the juices, syrup and salt, top with soda, stir once. Drop the charred lemon in.
The burnt lemon is where the smoke comes from. It's also the bit people ask about.
2. The jamun and masala spritz
- 50 ml jamun pulp or juice (blend and strain ripe jamun if you've got them)
- 10 ml fresh lime juice
- a small pinch of chaat masala, plus a little for the rim
- 6 to 8 mint leaves
- 120 ml cold soda
Rub a lime wedge round half the rim and dip it in chaat masala. Clap the mint between your hands once and drop it in the glass. Add ice, jamun, lime and masala, top with soda, stir once.
Half a rim, not the whole thing. Masala on every sip gets loud.
Jamun season is short, so if you can't find fresh, frozen pulp works fine.
3. The kokum and ginger spritz
- 30 ml kokum syrup (the concentrate sold for sherbet)
- a thumb of fresh ginger, grated, juice squeezed out
- a pinch of black salt
- 150 ml cold soda
- a thin slice of cucumber, lengthways
Line the inside of the glass with the cucumber ribbon, then fill with ice. Add kokum, ginger juice and black salt. Top with soda, stir once.
It's the colour of a Goa sunset and it tastes like one too, apparently. We weren't there.
What glass should you use?
A big one. A wine glass, a tall tumbler, whatever holds a lot of ice. The glass does half the work. A spritz in a small glass is just a juice with ambitions.
Can you make these for a crowd?
Yes. Make the flavour part in a jug ahead of time, keep it cold, and let people top up their own with soda so it stays fizzy. Put the jug next to everything else on the table, not on a separate "non-drinkers" shelf.
Batch 001 is on its way. Get your founder code and you'll hear first when it's ready.
