The Lillet Spritz is a classic French cocktail we love to serve in the hot summer months as it’s bubbly and refreshing.
The popular aperitivo mixed drink is served in an ice-filled red wine glass then muddled with Lillet Blanc, fizzy soda, lemon juice, lemon wheels, and cucumber slices.
Garnish with freshly plucked mint from your herb garden for a thirst-quenching sip at aperitivo hour!
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What Is A Lillet Spritz?
A Lillet Spritz is a citrus-forward and fresh herbaceous cocktail often served in the hot summer months as a refreshing drink to enjoy at aperitivo hour.
The French drink is inspired by Italy’s famous Spritz Veneziano, which is built in an ice filled wine glass and muddled with an Italian red bitter liqueur like Aperol, Prosecco and sparkling soda.
Order a Lillet Spritz at a cocktail bar and you’ll find a variety of interpretations. The drink will generally feature Lillet Blanc (but could substitute Lillet Rose for example), sparkling soda water and potentially the addition of sparkling wine and a base spirit like gin or vodka.
The best Lillet Spritzer is served in a large wine glass and filled with pretty lemon wheels, cucumber slices and fresh herbs like mint.
What Is Lillet Blanc?
Lillet (pronounced lee-LAY) is a French aromatized aperitif wine. It is made with a blend of 85% Bordeaux Semillon grapes and 15% macerated liqueurs, which are mostly citrus featuring peels of sweet oranges from Spain and Morocco and peels of bitter green oranges from Haiti.
The mixture is then stirred in oak vats until blended. During the aging process, Lillet is handled as a Bordeaux wine, undergoing the process of fining, racking, and filtering.
The popular aperitif made in Podensac was originally known as Kina Lillet, invented in 1887 and flavoured with quinine. Lillet Blanc replaced Kina in 1986 and has a lower quinine level. This is why early recipes described it as a “tonic aperitif.”
The Lillet brand today produces several expressions, including Lillet Blanc, Lillet Rouge and Lillet Rose.
Our Lillet Spritz recipe is prepared with Lillet Blanc, which tastes like honey, orange blossom, white floral notes, passionfruit, and slight herbal notes like pine.
Ingredients
This easy Lillet Blanc Spritz is best made with fresh and premium ingredients.
- Lillet Blanc: the French aromatized wine is the base spirit in this cocktail, infusing it with a floral and citrus flavour.
- Soda: the drink is muddled with soda water to add a sparkling “spritz” to the sipping experience.
- Lemon Juice: only use fresh lemon juice never concentrate. You can tell the difference!
- Lemon Wheels: decorate the wine glass with thinly sliced lemon wheels.
- Cucumber Slices: thinly slice a Persian or English cucumber to decorate the interior of the glass.
- Garnish: garnish the ice-filled glass with a fresh mint sprig.
Directions
This easy Lillet Sprtiz recipe is so easy to make at home, ready to serve in under 5 minutes!
- PREPARE THE GLASS: Begin by preparing your wine glass. Fill each glass with ice, lemon wheels and cucumber slices.
- POUR & STIR: Pour Lillet Blanc, lemon juice and soda into each glass. Use a bar spoon to stir for 30-45 seconds until the glass is chilled.
- GARNISH & SERVE: Decorate the glass with a fresh mint sprig.
Full instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cocktail Recipe Tips
- We suggest serving this drink in a large red wine glass.
- You can get creative with how you make a Lillet Spritz as the drink is very versatile. Don’t feel limited to only using Lillet Blanc. Substitute Lillet Rouge or Lillet Rose and serve a pretty pink coloured cocktail with strawberries and raspberries instead of cucumber.
- This recipe serves one person. If you’re hosting a large gathering feel free to multiply the ingredients by the number of guests and muddle the drink in a festive punch bowl or jug rather than a cocktail shaker.
- Feel free to add a few drops of your favourite flavoured bitters to give the drink additional complexity. Lemon or Mint bitters works well.
- If you want to make the drink a bit more boozy feel free to add an 1oz of your favourite gin or vodka.
- If you like a sweeter drink feel free to add a liquid sweetener like simple syrup, ginger syrup or maple syrup.
- You can level up this cocktail for a glamorous occasion by topping the drink with sparkling wine, similar to the proportions of a classic Aperol Spritz.
- An hour or two before you’re planning on serving drinks we suggest placing the Lillet Blanc bottle in your freezer so it’s well chilled.
- We like to garnish the drink with a fresh mint sprig but you can use other fresh herbs like basil, thyme or rosemary.
Best Bartender Tools & Cocktail Equipment
Before hosting a swanky Lillet Spritz cocktail soiree you’ll need to ensure you have the best bartender tools and cocktail equipment.
- Cocktail Kit: cocktail kits are the perfect gift for newbie mixology fans as they include basic bartender tools like a jigger, shaker and spoon.
- Cocktail Shaker: a bartender’s best friend. Purchase a premium cocktail shaker to muddle or shake up your favourite pink gin cocktails.
- Cocktail Glassware: make sure your bar is stocked with a selection of unique glassware to show off your favourite cocktail creations.
- Hawthorne Strainer: this unique strainer features tightly wound coils and perforated holes. It keeps ice and other large ingredients like lime wedges in your cocktail shaker rather than in the glass.
- Bar Spoons: slender and long bar spoons are a must-have when stirring drinks.
- Bottle Opener: easily open bottles of beer or cider with the flick of your wrist or purchase a corkscrew for fine wine.
- Pouring Spout: once you’ve opened a new bottle of gin insert these affordable pourers to make cocktail assembly a breeze.
- Cutting Board: purchase a petite cutting board for your bar to slice garnishes or citrus wedges like lime, orange, lemon or grapefruit.
- Ice Bucket: chill bottles of gin quickly in an ice bucket or keep by the bar when muddling gin mixers into cool creations.
- Ice Crusher: fans of the Mint Julep love an ice crusher.
- Ice Cube Kit: we suggest purchasing a selection of ice cube trays. Silicone styles are our favourite as they’re easy to clean and are available in various shapes and sizes.
- Jigger: use a jigger to accurately measure spirits, juices, syrups and shrubs.
- Juicer: invest in an electronic juicer or buy an affordable hand-held to easily juice fresh citrus like lemons and limes.
- Muddler: fans of the Mojito love a sturdy muddler to mix mint and lime. Muddler’s are handy for any cocktail featuring ingredients that need a pounding like fresh herbs or citrus wedges.
- Citrus Peeler & Zester: adorn your craft cocktails with a thick citrus peel or finer ribbons of lime or lemon zest.
- Rimmer: Bloody Mary and Caesar lovers should outfit their bar with a handy rimmer for salting and sugaring glassware.
You May Also Enjoy These Aperitif Cocktails…
- Aperol Tequila Cocktail
- Aperol Negroni Cocktail
- Aperol Aquavit Cocktail
- Aperol Gin Cocktail
- Garibaldi Cocktail Campari Orange Juice
- Negroni Sour Cocktail
- Negroski Vodka Negroni Cocktail
- Summer Strawberry Negroni Cocktail
- Negroni Spritz Cocktail
When To Serve A Lillet Blanc Spritz
This refreshing Lillet Spritzer can be enjoyed any time of year but we love to serve it most on hot summer days at garden parties and backyard barbecues. You can even encourage guests to pluck fresh mint from your herb garden to drop in their glasses.
Here are some fun ideas on when to serve our favourite Lillet Blanc Cocktail:
- Happy hour drink served alongside snacks like charcuterie, cheese, sourdough bread, crackers, olives, potato chips, pickles, and roasted nuts.
- Classy guys or girls night beverage
- Pre-drink at home before meeting friends at your local bar
- A refreshing sipper served on a hot summer day at a backyard barbecue or garden party
- Dinner party cocktail served with your favourite French dishes like Mashed Potato Fritters, Poulet a la Creme, Orange & Fennel Braised Provencal Chicken, Roasted Garlic Gruyere French Tomato Tart, or Brandy Caramelized Onion French Burger.
How To Make A Refreshing Lillet Spritz Cocktail
Lillet Spritz Cocktail
Equipment
- Wine Glass
- Jigger
- Bar Spoon
Ingredients
- 3 oz Lillet Blanc
- 3 oz Soda Water
- 1 oz Lemon Juice
- 2 Lemon Wheels
- 2 Cucumber Slices
- 1 Fresh Mint garnish
Instructions
- In a tall wine glass add 3 large ice cubes, cucumber slices and lemon wheels.
- Pour Lillet Blanc, soda and lemon juice over the ice and using a bar spoon swirl to combine.
- Garnish with a fresh mint sprig.
Nutrition
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