Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

This tart twist on the Aperol spritz will be your favorite new cocktail — and we’ve got an amazing recipe

Aperol spritz alternative: Meet the rhubarb spritz

By
Sprtiz
federica ariemma/Unsplash

If you live under a proverbial rock, don’t spend your days on social media, or simply aren’t up to date on the trending cocktails du jour, you might not know that the Aperol spritz is going through a renaissance right now. First created for Venetian palates back in 1920, this more than 100-year-old aperitif (before-dinner drink) is commonly made with prosecco (Italian sparking wine), Aperol (an herbal, Italian digestive liqueur), and soda water. While always popular in Italy, it’s become one of the most popular before-dinner, afternoon, or anytime cocktails of the last few years.

But while the classic recipe is an outstanding, refreshing, bittersweet way to whet your appetite before a nice lunch, dinner, or evening snack, it’s the kind of versatile mixed drink that shines even brighter when its ingredients are mixed and matched and even switched out for other complementary flavors. Today, we’re specifically talking about the addition of rhubarb. Who doesn’t love more rhubarb recipes, right?

Recommended Videos

All about rhubarb

If you didn’t know it already, rhubarb is the meaty, fleshy stalk of another plant called Rheum. Cooked, it’s used as an ingredient in pies and other recipes. It’s known for its almost celery-like consistency and flavors of tart, acidic citrus peels, and a light sourness. If you haven’t guessed it already, these flavors are perfect for a refreshing, crisp, easy-drinking cocktail. It’s a way to easily update your spritz recipes.

Related

And since your drink wouldn’t be very tasty if you simply whipped it up and plunked in a few chunks of rhubarb, you have to make rhubarb simple syrup before you get started even thinking about the other ingredients:

  • To make it, add 2-3 stalks of chopped rhubarb to a saucepan.
  • Add a cup of granulated sugar and a cup of water.
  • Turn the heat to slow and slowly stir.
  • When everything is incorporated, remove the rhubarb and add the rhubarb simple syrup to a squirt bottle for later use.

The quality of the drink hinges on the rhubarb simple syrup. Simple syrup on its own is made with water and sugar to make an extremely sweet flavoring that’s used in a multitude of cocktails, including a classic old-fashioned or mojito (if you don’t have time to muddle a sugar cube). The addition of rhubarb will make the syrup a mix of tart citrus and sweet sugar. What could be better?

The best part? This tart, lightly sour, semisweet cocktail doesn’t completely lose its popular Aperol addition. Instead of being the showcase liqueur, it’s a side flavor that’s used to enhance the other included flavors. This drink is fresh, refreshing, thirst-quenching, and just might become your new go-to aperitif.

Aperol Sprtiz
Kike Salazar/Unsplash

Rhubarb spritz recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces of rhubarb syrup
  • 3 ounces prosecco
  • A few dashes of Aperol
  • Sparkling water topper
  • Orange wheel garnish

Preparation:

  • Add ice to a large wine glass.
  • Add rhubarb simple syrup, prosecco, and a few dashes of Aperol.
  • Top with your favorite sparkling water.
  • Gently stir to combine.
  • Add an orange wheel garnish.
  • Maybe add a rhubarb stalk or two as a garnish as well? Or better yet, don’t.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Christopher Osburn
Christopher Osburn
Writer
Christopher Osburn is a food and drinks writer located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. He's been writing professional
These are the 7 classic tequila cocktail recipes you need to know
Mixing a drink with tequila as the star? Here are the recipes you ought to make
Classic margarita cocktail with salty rim on wooden table with limes and drink utensils

Tequila is a big player in the rich canon of cocktail culture. The agave spirit serves as the backbone of everything from a classic margarita to a refreshing Paloma. In short, if you have a home bar, it better have a few decent bottles of tequila in the mix to whip up cocktails with tequila.

While there are some great sipping tequilas, much of what's out there tends to do better with some complementary ingredients; that's where these classic tequila cocktails really shine, blending the earthy and spicy punch of tequila with bright-as-the-sun citrus and more.

Read more
23 easy cocktail recipes you can make at home
Check out this curated list of classic cocktail recipes to master in your own bar
Bartender making a whiskey highball

A cocktail doesn't have to be a complicated thing. In fact, many of the best classic cocktails involve just a few ingredients. These, my friends, are the cocktails you should know how to make, as they're simple to pull off and taste superb.

Maximalist cocktails with as many ingredients as there are stars in the sky are great, but better left to the pros. We like to make the ones that don't require a whole lot of special equipment (outside of a good cocktail shaker) or that take too much of your precious time. These are cocktails that tend to let your favorite spirit shine, whether it's good rye whiskey or a favorite gin.

Read more
6 easy camping cocktails to shake your post-hike thirst
Bring all these ingredients to quench your thirst in the wild
Outdoorsman's Hot Toddy

So you're camped out in your best tent for too long? Or wearily panting atop the summit of a fourteener? Perfect! Time for some easy cocktails to make everything better. Yes, that's right, when you've got the 4-1-1 behind these easy-to-make, tasty adult libations, you can enjoy a fine drink on a mountain, at the campsite, or when you're home and don't feel like cutting lemon twists or adding sugar to the rim of your cocktail glass.

The secret to making great camp cocktails is the same trick to achieving military victory: Keep it simple. There's no camp-friendly version of the Long Island iced tea, but that doesn't mean you have to stick with cheap whiskey when roughing it.

Read more