Fiena

What is a Hugo spritz?Elderflower, prosecco and mint at Fiena, King's Cross

3 min readBy Fiena

Lighter than an Aperol spritz, floral instead of bitter: the Hugo is the elderflower cousin of Italy's favourite aperitivo. At Fiena, our family-run Italian cafe, bar and restaurant at 4 Medway Court, Judd Street, London WC1H 9QX, a few minutes' walk from King's Cross St Pancras, our Hugo spritz is on the drinks menu. Here's what it is.

In this story

A South Tyrol spritz from 2005
Elderflower in the glass
Ours at Fiena
Something to eat with it

A South Tyrol spritz from 2005

The Hugo is an alcoholic aperitif that began in South Tyrol and spread through the Triveneto, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. It's built on prosecco, elderflower liqueur (or lemon balm syrup), sparkling water and mint leaves.

As reported by Mixology and Der Spiegel, it was conceived in 2005 by Naturns bar manager Roland Gruber at San Zeno Bar, as an alternative to the Spritz Veneziano. The first recipe used lemon balm syrup; shortly afterwards that was replaced with an elderflower liqueur, typically St-Germain. The name was almost Otto — Gruber changed his mind because he didn't think Otto suited the drink. Background from Wikipedia's Hugo cocktail page.

Elderflower in the glass

Elderflower drinks have a long European history. Elderflower cordial, made from the flowers of Sambucus nigra, has Victorian roots in north-west Europe and older recipes still further back. St-Germain, the well-known elderflower liqueur, is made from Sambucus nigra petals from France's Savoie region and was launched in 2007. Background from Wikipedia's elderflower cordial page and Wikipedia's St-Germain page.

A guest with a cocktail at the green marble bar at Fiena

Ours at Fiena

Our Hugo spritz is elderflower syrup, fresh mint, prosecco and soda — closer to the syrup tradition than a heavy liqueur pour. Cocktails are made with a 50ml spirit measure where spirits are used; alcoholic drinks are served from 10:30. It sits with the other spritzes: the Aperol spritz, Campari spritz and limoncello spritz. See also aperitivo hour on Judd Street.

Guests order it by name. One table wrote: We all got a Hugo spritz, the three girls for pizza and I had the seafood linguine, everything was delicious. (Google review) And Kiley's tip: Jan makes the best hugo spritz’s. (Kiley, Google review)

Something to eat with it

A floral, minty spritz loves lighter plates from the main menu: Bruschetta, Padron peppers, Caprese, or Baby calamari with tartar sauce. Pizza works too — a Margherita or Capricciosa. Not drinking? Our alcohol-free list has the Lady in Red and other mocktails.