Spring drinking is more fun than spring cleaning. As the weather turns, so do our palates. We’re feeling fruity and so are our cocktails. We’ve collated some of our favourite cocktails to imbibe in the newly assertive sunshine. These drinks all have one thing in common: they’re effervescent in one way, shape or form. These feisty little numbers are right up spring’s alley.

SPRITZES

The Spritz may seem like something new, but they’ve been around for a long time. The origin of the Spritz was some wine elongated with a couple of parts of soda water. Perfect for daytime imbibing. Wine became vermouth and vermouth became amari. But there is no reason why you shouldn’t be spritzing your gin, vodka or even whisky.

Here are a few of our house spritzes for you to try at home:

BELLINI

INGREDIENTS:

• 20ml Original Vodka

• 30ml peach nectar

• Top with prosecco

• Apple and mint to garnish

METHOD:

Build all ingredients in a wine glass, add ice and top with prosecco and garnish with sliced apple and mint.

KYOTO GARDEN

INGREDIENTS:

• 20ml Distiller’s Strength Gin

• 20ml lychee liqueur

• Top with Capi Grapefruit Tonic

• Wedge of grapefruit to garnish

METHOD:

Build all ingredients in a wine glass, add ice and top with Capi Grapefruit Tonic and garnish with a wedge of grapefruit.

CRISP RYE

INGREDIENTS:

• 20ml White Rye

• 20ml green apple liqueur

• Top with Capi Lemon + Basil Soda

• Spring of dill and lemon to garnish

METHOD:

Build all ingredients in a wine glass, add ice and top with Capi Lemon + Basil Soda and garnish with a sprig of dill and lemon.

ROSEBERY ROYALE

INGREDIENTS:

• 20ml Signature Dry Gin

• 10ml Creme De Cassis

• 10ml Aperol

• Top with sparkling rosé

• Mixed berries to garnish

METHOD:

Build all ingredients in a wine glass, add ice and top with and garnish with sparkling rosé and garnish with mixed berries.

HIGHBALLS

An evolution of the Scotch & Soda, the Highball is basically the most fancy version of a spirit and mixer. In its purest form it’s just a spirit with lots of soda, but here our Creative Drinks Manager, Rachelle Hair, has reimagined them in a very modern way.

RYE MALT HIGHBALL

INGREDIENTS:

• 60ml Rye Malt Whisky

• 120ml soda water

• Lemon wheel to garnish

METHOD:

Build over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel and enjoy.

COCO HIGHBALL

INGREDIENTS:

• 40ml White Rye

• 60ml coconut water

• 10ml vanilla bean syrup

• 5ml lemon juice

• 20ml soda water

• Desiccated coconut to garnish

METHOD:

Wipe a lemon wedge around the rim of highball glass and roll in desiccated coconut. Build all ingredients in your glass, give a short stir with ice. Top with soda if needed.

PINEAPPLE HIGHBALL

INGREDIENTS:

• 40ml Original Vodka

• 30ml pineapple juice

• 10ml lime juice

• 15ml mint syrup

• 5ml Angostura bitters

• Mint sprig to garnish

METHOD:

Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker except the Angostura bitters and shake and strain into a highball glass over crushed ice. Top with a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters and a sprig of mint to garnish.