We’re Calling It: The Limoncello Spritz Is the Drink of the Summer

Side view of three limoncellos — Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Last summer, I traveled to Italy’s Amalfi coast. The trip was full of ocean views, fresh seafood, and citrus drinks. The running theme of the trip seemed to be lemons. Situated just south of Naples along the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Amalfi coast has a moderate climate that makes it the ideal place to cultivate lemons. The fruit was everywhere, filling the air with its sweet, citrusy aroma, which was lovely mingled with the salt air. The abundance of fruit meant I encountered all sorts of lemon-themed foods. I enjoyed refreshing scoops of lemon gelato and sorbet, and was pleasantly surprised to taste citrus zest and juice in bread, pizza, and pasta doughs, too.

But my favorite lemon-themed concoction was limoncello, a traditional Italian liqueur made from the zest of local lemons, alcohol (highly concentrated ethanol or vodka), and sugar. Bars and restaurants served bright limoncello in several ways: straight up, in desserts, and paired with Prosecco and soda as a spritz, which was perfect for sipping on a hot day by the seaside. In an effort to recapture that glorious time in Italy, I’ve taken to recreating this summery spritz at home.

3 Tips for Making the Best Limoncello Spritz

Because a limoncello spritz has so few ingredients—limoncello, Prosecco, club soda, and lemons—it’s important that each one tastes good on its own, and that starts by picking a good quality limoncello. Sure, you could make homemade limoncello, but if you don’t want to wait a couple of days for it to be ready, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with store-bought limoncello. Check the label to ensure that the lemons are either sfusato Amalfitano or limone di Sorrento. Both of these lemons are found on Italy’s Amalfi coast and tend to be sweeter than lemons from other parts of Italy— so much so that some locals even eat them whole, pith and all.

Use a dry Prosecco. Prosecco varies by sweetness; I use Brut in the recipe below, which is classified as having zero to 12 grams of residual sugar per liter of wine. You can use an even drier Prosecco like Extra Brut (zero to six grams of residual sugar per liter) or Brut Nature (zero to three grams of residual sugar per liter), but you may have to pay a premium as they aren’t as widely distributed as Brut in the US. The most important thing is that your bottle has a DOP, DOC, or DOCG. label—these various Denominazione di Origine labels are Italian and European Union certifications that guarantee quality, production, and place of origin.

Plain seltzer or club soda, please. You might be tempted to use a lemon-, lime- or even limoncello-flavored seltzer, but this is not the place for it. Let the Amalfi lemons in your limoncello shine.

Dial in the ratio of Prosecco to limoncello for a balanced drink. Many recipes on the internet call for three parts of Prosecco to two parts of limoncello to one part soda, but I recommend using a little less limoncello and a little bit more Prosecco, as this highlights the bright flavor of the lemons without making the drink too boozy or overpoweringly sweet. Feel free to adjust to taste, but this ratio of limoncello feels just right to me.