Alcohol-free aperitif, tart instead of sweet, for the start of the meal
Alcohol-free aperitif brings together only the best ready-to-drink spritzes and bitters from the bottle, as well as bases for mixing from ten houses based between Berlin and Venice, featuring bitter orange, grapefruit, lemon, hibiscus, and peach as the lead aromas.
Alcohol-free aperitif refers to drinks before a meal with a maximum of 0.5 percent alcohol, tart or bitter and rarely sweet. This includes bottled spritzes, bitters, and wine aperitifs, alongside bases and syrups that are turned into a glass-ready drink with tonic, water, or sparkling wine.
The aperitif opens the evening, even without alcohol
Shortly before seven, the sun is still above the rooftops, and in front of the restaurant, glasses shimmer orange-red. Beside them sit a small bowl of olives and a few breadsticks, and no one is in a hurry. This is the aperitivo hour as Italy knows it, and it refers less to a drink than to a habit. You meet in the evening before dinner at a bar for a drink and a few snacks.
The word comes from the Latin aperire, to open, and that is exactly what an aperitif does. It opens the evening and bridges the time until the food is on the table. It is usually tart or bitter and rarely sweet, and Pastis in southern France, Kir in Burgundy, or a dry sherry all follow the same idea.
The spritz comes from Habsburg Venice, where Austrian soldiers would "spritz" (splash) their wine with water, which earned it the German name. Later, Prosecco replaced the wine, then the bitter liqueur was added—in Padua, it has been Aperol since 1919. Today, the International Bartenders Association formula applies: three parts sparkling, two parts bitter, a splash of soda.
In this country, a drink can call itself alcohol-free if it reaches at most the half-percent mark mentioned in the definition above. Anyone who specifies 0.0% ABV, on the other hand, promises no alcohol at all, and that must then also be true.
This promise is made on our shelf by the manufacturers of the Spritz from Windspiel, the Dzin Bitter from Jörg Geiger, the three Wellpaero concentrates from Sasse, the Zero Spritz from Ehringhausen, and the organic Spritz from Galvanina. The remaining bottles bear the word "alcohol-free," the syrups from Schusters are prepared without alcohol, and both satisfy the rule above.
A drink without alcohol, however, may not carry the name Gin or Vermouth. According to EU law, spirits must contain at least 15 percent alcohol, Gin even 37.5, and Vermouth—a wine aromatized with wormwood—14.5. A court therefore prohibited the use of the term for an alcohol-free gin.
Ready to drink from the bottle or as a base for the whole round
Almost everyone standing in front of this shelf asks one question: whether you simply open the bottle or have to mix it first. Both exist, and we deliberately selected both side-by-side because an evening for two involves different drinking habits than a terrace full of guests.
Some come pre-mixed. The foaming bitter from orchard fruits by Jörg Geiger, the Prisecco Aecht Bitter with Green Jagdbirne pear, gooseberry, and wormwood, goes into a champagne flute. The Virgin Bellini from Cipriani comes in a four-pack—white peach with carbonation—and foams soft pink in the glass.
Limalfi, also by Jörg Geiger, is a drink made from dealcoholized Chardonnay with cider from old apple varieties and lemons from the Amalfi coast. The Dzin Bitter brings notes of juniper, orange, and wood, while the Aecht Kimmel places caraway, dill, and cucumber side-by-side in a dry-tart fashion.
Pale straw-yellow and a little cloudy, the San Limello Spritz sits in the glass, one of two ready-made spritzes that the house Dr. Jaglas fills with half dealcoholized, sparkling Riesling from the Leitz winery in the Rheingau; the other is made with hibiscus flowers. The organic Spritz from Galvanina comes in a 200 ml bottle, a full glass, and GUUBII from Goodvines is an aperitif made from dealcoholized wine with elderflower and lemon.
The others are intended for mixing; the house Jaglas has four bases for this: San Limello with lemon, San Orangello with bitter orange, San Pompello with grapefruit, and the Herber Hibiskus (Tart Hibiscus), which runs garnet red into the glass. Orange-red like the classic spritz is the Windspiel base with bitter orange and grapefruit, followed by Limone di Sicilia and the rosy Pink Grapefruit with blueberry. From Sasse come the Wellpaero concentrates Ginger Melissa, Limoncello, and Vermouth & Orange.
The three summer spritz syrups from Schusters Shrub rely on apple cider vinegar: Hibiscus-Raspberry, Basil-Lime, and Rosemary-Grapefruit. The Zero Spritz from the Ehringhausen distillery brings zests of Sicilian blood oranges and a gentle chili heat, while the Senza from Mondino is defined by bitterness, alpine herbs, and citrus.
Those who sort alcohol-free aperitifs by flavor will find bitter orange, lemon, grapefruit, hibiscus, peach, and herbs. Those looking for an alcohol-free spritz will find it here, both as a base and pre-mixed.
First the bottle, then the taste, finally the occasion
With an alcohol-free aperitif, as stocked by "nur Gutes," you first decide on the bottle—ready-mixed for the glass or a base for the round—then the taste, and finally the occasion. A base pays off when you have guests, as a 500 ml bottle from the house of Jaglas makes a good dozen glasses, and it keeps for weeks once opened. A ready-made spritz is more convenient but should be finished within days.
When it comes to the alcohol-free aperitif, just like the classic version, the flavor should be "tart instead of sweet." Windspiel Spritz, Zero Spritz, and the two bitters from Jörg Geiger taste tart in the style of a spritz; San Limello and Limalfi taste of lemon; San Pompello of grapefruit; and the Herber Hibiskus of hibiscus. Those who avoid bitterness opt for the peach in the Bellini or the elderflower in the GUUBII.
Finally, the occasion: the start of a meal can handle a bitter, cold and short, while brunch calls for peach or hibiscus. For a long summer evening, a base with tonic or alcohol-free sparkling wine is suitable, because six glasses can be mixed as quickly as one.
Some bases can also be enjoyed neat over ice, such as the Windspiel or the Zero Spritz, and thus sit between the two categories. What the houses put in them varies: water, sugar, or juice, extracts and aromas, sometimes a distillate, sometimes dealcoholized wine. What they all share is that bitterness or acidity forms the framework that alcohol would otherwise provide, because without them, an alcohol-free aperitif tilts into lemonade.
The price follows the production method, and a concentrate like Wellpaero, of which only a thimbleful goes into the glass, costs the least per serving. A base is more expensive, and a ready-made spritz the most, but for that, it is on the table immediately without the need for tonic, ice, and calculations.
A pharmacist, a distiller, and an orchard meadow stand behind the glass
Christina Jagla, a pharmacist with a doctorate from a family of pharmacists, is behind Dr. Jaglas in Berlin, and you can tell the pharmacy roots in the bases—infusions of lemon and hibiscus flowers, as precisely dosed as a prescription.
Jörg Geiger infuses caraway, bitter orange, or meadowsweet in water in Schlat, amidst orchard meadows, and sends them through the still so that the water carries the fragrance and flavor. This is called a hydrolat, and the Manufaktur Jörg Geiger carries these long drinks as "Virgin," delicately sparkling and with a lemony freshness that one would not expect from orchard fruit.
Sandra Wimmeler and Denis Lönnendonker run the Windspiel Manufaktur at the Weilerhof in the Volcanic Eifel. Since 2014, the house has been known for its gin; today, it is also known for three alcohol-free bases into which natural distillates are incorporated.
For Wellpaero, nothing is distilled at the Feinbrennerei Sasse, even though the history of the house in Schöppingen in Münsterland dates back to 1707. The ingredients steep for about a week in the water bath of the still and are then filtered—an extract, therefore, and not a distillate. In the case of Ginger Melissa, these are lemon balm and mint, ginger and lemon, and it sits light yellow and clear in the glass.
Hanna Schuster first encountered the shrub, a syrup made from three ingredients, as a student in the USA. Since 2012, she and Gabi have been steeping raspberries, basil, or rosemary in organic apple cider vinegar in Untersteinbach in the Steigerwald; Schusters Shrub cooks around 25 varieties, and you can see the ruby red of the hibiscus-raspberry in the bottle, and the green of the basil-lime.
In Harry's Bar in Venice in 1948, Giuseppe Cipriani invented the Bellini, named after the painter Giovanni Bellini, and the family runs the house in the fourth generation. The organic Spritz from Galvanina, a house with three of its own springs near Rimini, sits amber-colored in the glass, with a sweetness that only pushes the bitterness to the end.
Josef Ehringhausen, a trained pharmacist with a penchant for special plants, is the namesake of the JOS. GARDEN line from the Ehringhausen distillery in Werne, and the subtle herbal note behind the blood orange in the Zero Spritz fits this legacy.
Hans, the master distiller of the Schnitzer family in Chiemgau, brought an amaro recipe from South Tyrol to Kaltenbach. His grandson Maximilian turned it into the organic Amaro Mondino, and Senza is its alcohol-free brother. Christina Claus and Jörn Walkling of Goodvines in Heidelberg remove the alcohol from German Riesling and give GUUBII a vinegar creation with elderflower and lemon.
An alcohol-free aperitif needs cold, ice, and a large glass
It must be cold, six to ten degrees, so from the fridge and not from the shelf. Add plenty of ice to a large wine glass or a long-drink glass so that it stays cold while you talk. A slice of orange or grapefruit, a sprig of rosemary, or an olive belongs on top, and suddenly your glass looks like the ones outside the restaurant.
For the bases, the measurements suggested by the houses themselves apply. For Jaglas, add 40 milliliters to 160 milliliters of tonic; for the Windspiel Spritz, 50 milliliters to 100 milliliters of tonic water or alcohol-free sparkling wine. For the Wellpaero Ginger Melissa from Sasse, ten milliliters are enough for 100 milliliters of mineral water over three ice cubes; the house pours Limoncello and Vermouth & Orange with just as much water and two parts alcohol-free sparkling wine, and for the Shrub, two centiliters are sufficient for a glass of sparkling water.
Pour the Zero Spritz with a sparkling mixer, and if you are serving a whole round, mix the base in a pitcher and pour as soon as the ice cracks. The aperitif calls for salty snacks: olives, taralli (the little rings), roasted almonds, a piece of hard cheese, and a few antipasti carry the round until dinner.
On the board in front of you lie a burrata, a few slices of salami, and a piece of Parmesan, and in the glasses are San Limello and San Orangello. The lemon pairs well with the soft cheese, the bitter orange with the salami. Those with the Herber Hibiskus in their glass slice goat cheese or break off dark chocolate, and the Bellini pairs well with carpaccio.
If some at the table are drinking with and others without alcohol, take a base and mix it twice—once with tonic, once with sparkling wine. Then everyone has the same orange-red in front of them, and the whole round toasts together.
From summer evening to New Year's Eve, a cold glass is ready
In summer, this shelf stands on the terrace, the Windspiel base with tonic in the pitcher, the Herber Hibiskus deep red over lots of ice. For brunch, you have the Bellinis, which bring the peach flavor with them, and for the grill, the Shrub—acidic from the apple cider vinegar—alongside smoke and fat.
During Advent, the Prisecco Aecht Bitter takes the place usually occupied by sparkling wine. On New Year's Eve, the GUUBII is opened at midnight for everyone celebrating without alcohol.
For everyone else, the aperitif with alcohol is right next door, and both shelves serve the same moment when the day ends and the evening begins. In our shop in Nordhorn, a spritz is often mixed at this time, orange-red and cold, and the glass frosts over. Aperire, to open—there is nothing more to it.
