Written by Scott Thompson and Jason England
With the summer season now in full swing, venues are filling with customers out to enjoy the festive season and celebrate the end of the year. We have noted that post-COVID restrictions, patrons have a newfound love for drinking cocktails.
Sales have significantly increased across local venues, which is consistent with feedback from other parts of Queensland.
With this in mind it seems fitting for me to discuss a few delicious summer cocktails to sample locally. When I think of summer there is one style of drink that immediately comes to mind and brings with it a nostalgia of past holidays, celebrations and festivities. The style of cocktail I refer to is the spritz.
The spritz has changed over time, from its beginnings in the 1800s in the Veneto region in Italy where parts of the region were controlled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Visitors and soldiers from other parts of the empire were said to have found Italian wines too strong and so lightened them with a splash (‘spritz’ in German) of water. The modern spritz has evolved to be a flavouring component, sparkling wine and a spritz of soda.
The most common form of spritz that you may be familiar with is the Aperol Spritz. This spritz is by far the most enjoyed worldwide. It consists of Aperol, Prosecco and a spritz of soda. This low alcohol drink is commonly consumed on warm afternoons and is often enjoyed with the accompaniment of snacks. When I think it time to enjoy an Aperol spritz there is one venue in Hervey Bay that always comes to mind, Enzo’s on the Beach is a perfect location to sit back, enjoy the view and watch the world go by. Whether it’s with a group of friends or a quiet reflective drink, Enzo’s ticks all the boxes.
Further on down the Esplanade, is one of the newest cocktail bars to our town, 19XO Wine and Cocktail. Behind the bar you will find an impressive selection of spirits and wines, a creative and original cocktails list, and a fabulous mullet on venue manager Timo. Timo has a passion for crafting unique and original drinks for his patrons to enjoy. He’s created a variation on the classic spritz cocktail, mixing Japanese gin, rose and green tea and topping with sparkling Umeshe (Japanese plum wine). This spritz is fresh and a little fruity, perfect for a sunny afternoon or pre-dinner drink.
Back here at Odyssey Bistro we like to focus our cocktail list on utilizing Australian spirits and ingredients as often as possible. At Odyssey we have a variety of cocktails, perfect for various times of day and different stages of dining.
Our cocktails menu is small; however, we do change things up every few months.
The spritz you will find at Odyssey is another variation on the classic cocktail. Here we are mixing Brookies slow gin, watermelon, sparkling wine, mint, cucumber and of course a spritz of soda. Our summer approach to an afternoon cocktail makes this drink perfect for sitting in our newly added outdoor area and unwinding for a busy week or weekend.
The warm summer months are here, and we trust this has given you some inspiration about future options to explore when you’re out and about in Hervey Bay. Make sure you drop by our venue and tell us about the memorable Spritz based drinks you have sampled. You never know, you could inspire us to create a future cocktail for our venue.