Golden Hour Spritz
A sparkling vodka spritz of ripe passion fruit Passoa, fresh orange juice and crisp Prosecco: sunny, juicy and tropical, with a dry, bubbly finish, perfect for long summer
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Golden Hour Spritz
The first thing you notice about the Golden Hour Spritz is the aroma: ripe passion fruit and sweet orange rising together off a glass of lively bubbles. It smells like the last warm hour of a summer evening, fragrant and open, and the first sip lives up to it. The bubbles carry the fruit across the tongue in a bright, fizzing wave, so the Golden Hour Spritz feels light and refreshing from the start rather than heavy or sugary.
At the centre is the Passoa, and it does most of the flavour work. This passion fruit liqueur brings a lush, tropical sweetness with a slightly tart, floral edge, the flavour of ripe passion fruit pulp rather than a confected sweet. It gives the spritz its exotic character and its glowing colour, and it is used with a measured hand, so it flavours the drink without ever turning it syrupy.
Orange juice rounds the drink out and gives it its golden glow. It adds a juicy, citrusy body and a natural sweetness that sits comfortably alongside the passion fruit, softening the edges of the alcohol and keeping the whole glass easy to drink. The vodka underneath is clean and neutral by design. It adds backbone and length without competing with the fruit, so every layer of the Golden Hour Spritz stays clear and bright.
Prosecco tops it all, and it is what makes this a true spritz. Its fine bubbles and crisp green-apple and pear notes lift the fruit and bring a dry, refreshing edge that balances the sweetness of the Passoa and orange juice. The finish is clean, fruity and gently sparkling, with a lingering trace of passion fruit that leaves you ready for another sip.
The spritz has humble beginnings. The name comes from the German word “spritzen”, meaning “to spray” or “to splash”, and is usually traced back to the 19th century, when Austrian soldiers and administrators stationed in the Veneto found the local wines too strong for their taste and began splashing them with water. That simple habit of diluting wine to make it lighter and more refreshing gave northern Italy one of its best-loved drinking traditions.
Over the following century the spritz evolved from wine and water into a more elaborate aperitivo. Sparkling wine replaced still wine, bitter liqueurs and aperitifs were added, and a splash of soda finished the glass. By the middle of the 20th century the spritz had become the defining pre-dinner drink of Venice, Padua and Treviso, and in recent decades it has spread across the world, with Prosecco at the heart of most modern versions.
The Golden Hour Spritz follows that tradition but takes a sunnier, more tropical route. Instead of a bitter aperitif, it uses Passoa, a passion fruit liqueur, and adds vodka and fresh orange juice for a fruit-forward spritz that suits the long light of a Cornish evening. The name refers to the warm, golden light just before sunset, the time of day when a chilled, sparkling drink feels most at home.
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