Limoncello Spritz Recipe

Let’s be real. The best way to sip a Limoncello Spritz is in Italy, preferably on the Amalfi Coast where the drink was invented, while lounging underneath a lemon tree.

But what about the other 50 weeks when you (and we) aren’t on vacation?

This is when it’s time to craft and drink Limoncello Spritzes at home. It’s the next best thing to sipping them in Italy.

The Limoncello Spritz is a classic Italian spritz that’s crafted with a 3:2:1 ratio of Prosecco, Limoncello and sparkling water. You’ll recognize this classic spritz ratio if you’ve previously crafted Aperol Spritzes or Hugo Spritzes at home.

Either way, it’s super easy to craft a Limoncello Spritz once you have these three ingredients.

And, while you can technically craft and drink Limoncello Spritzes at any time of year, summertime is the best time for sipping this drink. It’s sweet! It’s light! It’s bubbly! It’s yellow!

Discover our favorite summer cocktails.

We like to think that a farmer with too many lemons in his basket was the first to mix Limoncello with Prosecco and fizzy water. Or maybe it was a fisherman who needed a refreshing break after pulling on heavy nets in the hot Italian sun. Then again, it would be cool if it was a nonna who whipped up the sweet tipple while stirring a pot of Genovese sauce in her steamy Napoli kitchen.

Discover more tasty Italian cocktails.

You don’t need a lot of ingredients to craft a Limoncello Spritz at home. In fact, you just need the following five items:

It’s no stretch to call Limoncello the most important ingredient in a Limoncello Spritz. Not only is it in the drink’s name, but it also provides the drink’s yellow color and sweet citrus flavor.

Over achievers can make Limoncello from scratch with lemon peel, vodka and sugar. The other option is to buy bottled Limoncello at a liquor store which is what we did. The difficult part was narrowing our choice of four different Limoncello bottles. Actually, it wasn’t that difficult.

It was an easy decision to buy a bottle of Luxardo Limoncello since we’re fans off the company’s maraschino cherries and maraschino liqueur. It was a good choice. Produced with Sicilian lemons, Luxardo’s Limoncello has bright flavors and a 27% ABV.

Pro Tip
Store your Limoncello bottle in the refrigerator or freezer so that it’s ready for action when and if you get a sudden Limoncello craving.

Prosecco

We’re not going to pretend that the brand of sparkling water really matters. However, we chose to stay with the Italian theme by purchasing a bottle of Pellegrino sparkling water for this Limoncello Spritz recipe.

We stand by this choice but understand if you’d rather use another sparkling water brand or even club soda instead.

As is the case with most spritz recipes, you don’t need any special tools or equipment to craft a Limoncello Spritz. We use the following basic bar tools in our recipe:

Get creative if you’re missing either of these tools. For example you could use another spoon instead of a bar spoon and a small angled measuring cup instead of a jigger.

Discover 10 essential bar tools for home mixologists.

The first step in the Limoncello Spritz recipe is to carefully open a Prosecco bottle. Note that the key word here is carefully.

You want to hold the bottle upright and direct the bottle away from your eyes and any lighting fixture before you pop the cork. Use both hands to open the bottle, twisting the cork while gently liberating it from the top.

Next, fill a glass with ice cubes. We like to use a stemless wine glass for this recipe but you can use a regular wine glass instead.

Starting with the Limoncello, measure the the three liquid ingredients with a jigger. As always, we use a Japanese jigger to avoid spillage and ensure accurate measurements.

Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you don’t have one or if you want to make an inexpensive jigger upgrade.

Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Pro Tip
Feel free to add herbal garnishes like basil, mint or rosemary if that’s how you roll.

Limoncello Spritz Recipe

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Limoncello Spritz

Yield: 1

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Crafting this Limoncello Spritz is the next best thing to drinking a Limoncello Spritz in Italy. It's also a classic summer sipper.

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Ingredients

• 3 ounces Prosecco, chilled
• 2 ounces limoncello, chilled
• 1 ounce sparkling water, chilled
• 1 lemon wheel
• ice cubes

Instructions

1. Fill glass with ice cubes.
2. Add Prosecco, limoncello and sparkling water into the glass.
3. Gently stir.
4. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Notes

1. You can replace the sparkling water with club soda.
2. You can add herb garnishes like mint, basil and rosemary.

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