Limoncello spritz

A common ratio is 3 parts prosecco, 2 parts limoncello and 1 part soda. That is not a fixed rule from a rulebook, but the ratio that is most used in practice. In millilitres that becomes, for example, 75 ml prosecco, 50 ml limoncello and 25 ml sparkling water.

Feel free to adjust the proportions. If you want it less sweet, use a little less limoncello and a little more soda. If you want more bubbles, move up to more prosecco. Do keep the order of size: prosecco is the base, limoncello the flavouring, soda finishes it off.

If you are making it for more people at once, keep the same proportions and mix the prosecco and the soda only just before pouring. That way enough carbonation stays in every glass and the last glass tastes like the first.

A limoncello spritz takes a minute to make. Begin with a large wine glass or balloon glass and fill it to the top with ice cubes. Lots of ice keeps the drink cold longer and dilutes it less quickly than a few loose cubes.

First pour the limoncello over the ice. Then add the cold prosecco, slowly and down the side or over a bar spoon, so that the carbonation stays. Finish with a splash of sparkling water or soda.

Stir once, briefly and gently. Stirring too long takes the bubbles out. Add a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint or basil. Put the bottles in the fridge beforehand: cold ingredients give a fresher spritz than warm bottles with extra ice.

Limoncello is a lemon liqueur from southern Italy. For the protected Liquore di limone di Sorrento, the production rules require the peels of lemons with the protected designation Limone di Sorrento to be steeped for at least 48 hours in alcohol of agricultural origin. Water and sugar or sugar syrup are then added. That liqueur contains at least 30% alcohol.

In European terms, limoncello falls under the category liqueur of Regulation (EU) 2019/787. A liqueur must have at least 15% alcohol there and a minimum amount of sugar. For citrus liqueurs, only natural flavourings and flavouring foodstuffs may be used.

The lemons themselves are also protected. The Limone di Sorrento comes from the Ovale di Sorrento ecotype, around Sorrento and on Capri. The Limone Costa d'Amalfi comes from the Sfusato Amalfitano cultivar, in the province of Salerno.

Use a sparkling prosecco, a spumante. According to the Prosecco DOC consortium, Prosecco DOC exists as spumante, frizzante and still wine, and also as rosé. Spumante has the finest and longest-lasting mousse and is therefore the logical choice for a spritz.

Prosecco DOC is made in nine provinces in north-eastern Italy: Treviso, Venice, Vicenza, Padua and Belluno in Veneto, and Gorizia, Pordenone, Trieste and Udine in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The main grape is glera; other permitted varieties may together make up no more than 15%.

Check the label. Brut contains less than 12 grams of sugar per litre, extra dry between 12 and 17 grams. Because limoncello itself already contains sugar, the choice between brut and extra dry also determines how sweet the spritz ends up overall.

At ’t Bockje there are now 32 bottles of limoncello. Among them are Bongiorno Limoncello and Caffo Crema di Limoncello, and also Achterhoekse Limoncello Mals Maatje and Battumse Limoncello likeur. Feel free to ask about the difference between the bottles.

For the prosecco you can choose from, among others, Bellussi Prosecco DOC and Bottega Prosecco. Sparkling water, lemon and mint or basil you can easily get yourself.

Not sure which limoncello suits your spritz best, or want to take several bottles for a birthday or garden party? Feel free to call or drop by ’t Bockje at Brink 2 in Bathmen.

The shop is at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Open Tuesday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00. For advice, call 0570 541 278 or email info@bockje.nl.