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The history of the spritz al bitter or spritz veneziano is as colourful as the drink itself.

Unsurprisingly given the name, it originated in Venice but at a time when the area was under Austrian rule, in the early 1800s.

Soldiers along with merchants, politicians and other employees of the Austrian empire occupied the area and used to drink local tavern wines. However, vintages from the Veneto region (in which Venice resides) were notably stronger than they were used to so to stay a little more, shall we say “alert”, they would dilute them with water or soda, a style known as “spritzen” in German and so the Italian Spritz was born.

It wasn’t until approximately one hundred years later that the modern spritz came to be. Austrian noblewomen began to frequent the drink when siphons were created, allowing carbonation of a number of watered beverages. The injection of sparkling glamour soon saw the drink adopted by trend setters of the time and became highly fashionable.

As with all popular cocktails, time in the limelight led to experimentation and variants. Soon a number of Italian bitter liqueurs were added for a dryer, bitter-sweet take, known as the Spritz Al Bitter, the first incarnation of the vibrant orange, summery drink we know today. After a hiatus from cocktail culture The Spritz Veneziano came back with a storm in 2018, with The New York Times, The Guardian and many other notable sources crowing it “the drink of summer”.