The Best Summer Spritz – A Mother’s Day Reflection by Melissa & Tom

Line of aperol spritzes
Picture of Melissa Waskiewicz

Melissa Waskiewicz

Melissa (she/her) is our Systems Manager, Curbside Program Manager, and our resident Cider Pro. She is a Certified Cider Professional, and is particularly interested in ciders that are made with a lot of crab apples. In her spare time, Melissa is an avid reader who is always looking for good book recommendations.

Picture of Tom Schneider

Tom Schneider

Tom (he/him) is on France 44's Spirits Team. He loves doing side-by-side comparisons of different wild agave mezcals. If he wasn’t working at France 44, he’d probably be a bouncer like Swayze in Roadhouse. He and his wife have a three-legged Pitty mix named Pickles. He’s also extremely colorblind.

Make Mom a Spritz this Mother’s Day!

“Mother’s Day is upon us and I’m sure you are looking for ways to celebrate the women in your life. As a Mom, I can assure you that we do not want cleaning supplies! A bottle of wine or bouquet of flowers are fine. Most of us, however, want to have a little fun and drink some cocktails! For a lively celebration and a cocktail that goes GREAT with a home-made Sunday brunch, consider a bubbly spritz! Spritzes come in every shape and size and can be classic, low-alcohol, and no-alcohol. Mothers make the world go ‘round and they should be celebrated accordingly. Below is your guide to spritzes to make sure you give that special person in your life the toast they deserve!” – Melissa 

The Spritz is a quintessential celebratory cocktail. There is no one way to make this classic cocktail, but we do have some simple guidelines and ratios that will allow you to spruce up your Mother’s Day spritzes to help celebrate that special person in your life this weekend! 

The Mimosa

1 Part Orange Juice 

3 Parts Dry Sparkling Wine or Dry Sparkling Cider for a lower ABV option 

The Mimosa is the most classic brunch cocktail. Traditionally made from orange juice and sparkling wine, it’s refreshing and light, perfect for a bottomless brunch. We love to switch up the sparkling wine for sparkling cider, and play around with the fruit juices. Switch to peach juice and you’ve got yourself a classic Bellini, or go with Melissa’s favorite: Chinola Mango Liqueur & Seattle Dry Cider!  

The Aperol Spritz

1 Part Seltzer 

2 Parts Aperol 

3 Parts Sparkling Wine  

The Aperol Spritz is perhaps among the most popular cocktails at the moment. It’s a refreshing balance of bitter and sweet and will transport you straight to a busy Italian piazza. The traditional recipe calls for a 1:2:3 ratio of seltzer : Aperol : Sparkling wine. The While Aperol is a fantastic product, we also like to substitute other aperitivos such as Cappelletti (similar flavor, but wine based), Cap Corse Blanc (a more citrus–forward alternative), or a lighter amaro such as Cardamaro to provide a more digestive punch. 

Lastly, if you are looking for an alternative to alcohol, you can substitute club soda or tonic water for the sparkling wine base. Products such as Ghia (an NA Campari alternative) and Giffard Aperitif (an NA Aperol alternative) are also great substitutes!  

The Sláinte Buck

Cocktail in a highball glass sits on a coffee table

🍀 Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style with a cocktail that pays homage to the Emerald Isle’s rich whiskey tradition: the Sláinte Buck. This delightful cocktail combines the smooth warmth of Irish whiskey with the crisp tang of an Apple Rosemary Shrub, topped off with a touch of ginger beer. The result? A refreshing, crushable cocktail that perfectly balances sweet, tart, and spicy flavors, making it an ideal choice for toasting the occasion. So raise your glass and toast to the luck of the Irish! Sláinte!

  • 2oz Irish Whiskey
  • 1oz Sharab Shrubs Apple Rosemary Shrub
  • Ginger Beer to top
  • Rosemary sprig to garnish (optional)
Shake the whiskey and shrub in a cocktail shaker with ice until lightly chilled and diluted, about 5 seconds. Strain into a highball or Collins glass over fresh ice. Top with ginger beer and lightly stir. Optionally, garnish with a rosemary sprig.
With light notes of toffee and dried fruit, Irish whiskey pairs incredibly well with apple. The acidity from the Shrub provides bite, while the ginger beer rounds out this cocktail with a little sweetness and spice. Undertones of rosemary tie the whole drink together and will leave you wanting a second one. Sláinte!

Mardi Gras Cocktail Recipes

Sazerac cocktail site in front of cocktail shaker

“Laissez les bon temps rouler”, let the good times roll. Mardi Gras is coming up, and just because you’re not in New Orleans doesn’t mean you can’t party this weekend. Check out these new Mardi Gras cocktails crafted by our spirits team!

Polar Vortex

The Minnesota Hurricane

Invented in New Orleans in the 1940’s, the Hurricane is known as a booze-forward party cocktail. We’ve decided to mix it up a bit by swapping the rum for coconut aquavit. The caraway profile of the aquavit helps add complexity, while the coconut fits in with the other tropical elements.

Fruity yellow & red cocktail
  • 2 oz Tattersall Coconut Aquavit
  • ½ oz Lime Juice
  • ½ oz Orange Juice
  • ½ oz Liber & Co Passion Fruit Syrup
  • 1 tsp Grenadine

Add the aquavit, lime juice, orange juice, and passion fruit syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until just chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with crushed ice. Add the teaspoon of grenadine over the top. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Sazerac

A New Orleans staple, this Old Fashioned riff tones down the sweetness by swapping bourbon for rye. Bitters bring some botanical and licorice elements to the party, and the absinthe rinse amplifies those notes. The result is a spicy, botanical forward cocktail that swaps some of the classic Old Fashioned elements for new, interesting flavors.

Sazerac cocktail site in front of cocktail shaker
  • 2 oz Rye Whiskey
  • ½ oz Simple Syrup
  • 2 – 4 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
  • Optional: La Fee Absinthe to rinse

Add ¼ oz of absinthe to a rocks glass and rotate the glass in hand so that the absinthe coats the walls of the glass. Discard the remaining absinthe. Add the whiskey, simple syrup, and Peychaud’s to a mixing glass with ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into the absinthe rinsed glass over fresh ice.

French 44

Our take on the classic French 75

    Though not an invention of the Crescent City, the French 75 become wildly popular in New Orleans. The simple recipe of gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and sparkling wine is simple to prepare infinitely riff-able, and astonishingly delicious.

    • 1 oz Citadelle Gin
    • ½ oz Lemon Juice
    • ½ oz Liber & Co Grapefruit Cordial
    • 3 oz Kraemer Blanc de Blancs

    Add the gin, lemon juice, and Grapfruit Cordial to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled. Double strain with a fine mesh strainer into a champagne flute and top with the sparkling wine. Garnish with a lemon twist or a raspberry.

    The Non-Alcoholic Pineapple Paloma

    Cocktail in a coupe glass sits on a snowy table in front of three bottles

    Welcome to Junuary. Yeah, you read that right. Frankly, it’s going to be COLD this weekend, and we will all need a little pick me up, a little taste of the warm weather to come (hopefully soon!). You don’t need alcohol to create flavorful, interesting cocktails and we’re here with one that emulates summer sun & happiness: The Pineapple Paloma. Pineapple syrup adds a tropical sweetness, which is balanced with the bright acidity of the On The Fly Paloma Mixer. It’ll make you feel like you’re sitting on the beach. So throw on a pair of sunglasses, mix yourself this N/A Paloma, stick a cocktail umbrella in your glass, and enjoy this below zero weekend in style with a summery drink in hand. 

    • 2 oz On The Fly Paloma Mixer: On the Fly elixirs are locally produced by Earl Giles Distillery. The Paloma Mixer, made with juice from ruby red grapefruit and lime, is tart with balanced sweetness and vibrant flavors. 
    • ¼ oz Liber & Co Pineapple Gum Syrup: Cold-pressed pineapple juice makes this syrup a truly tropical delight. The syrup is rich in flavor and sweetness, so even this ¼ oz goes a long way to bring summery flavors to the forefront of this cocktail.
    • ½ oz Lime Juice: Both the Pineapple Syrup and the Paloma Mixer bring quite a bit of sweetness, and the addition of extra lime juice balances the drink with a bit of extra acidity. Non-Alcoholic cocktails are famously hard to balance and citrus does a great job at leveling the sweetness.
    • 2 oz Topo Chico Mineral Water: Lastly, the addition of Topo Chico tops of the cocktail with a bit of texture!
    To a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice, add Paloma Mixer, Pineapple Syrup, and lime juice. Shake well to chill and combine, then pour into either a rocks glass or a coupe and top with Topo Chico sparkling mineral water. Garnish with a lime wheel. 
    *Optional – if you do wish to add alcohol to this cocktail, add 2 oz tequila or mezcal to the cocktail shaker.