The Last Spritz Recipe
A Last Word with the gin swapped for soda: maraschino, green Chartreuse and lime stretched into a tall, herbal, sweet-tart highball.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 13%
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- Green Chartreuse30 ml (1 oz)
- Maraschino liqueur30 ml (1 oz)
- Fresh lime juice30 ml (1 oz)
- Soda water90 ml (3 oz)
How to Make It
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Pour in the Chartreuse, maraschino and lime juice.
- Top with soda water and stir gently to combine.
- Garnish with a cherry.
Garnish
Cherry
What it tastes like
The citrus acidity leads, it smells of lemon and lime peel, it has a green, botanical backdrop, it is carbonated and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Green Chartreuse
- The 55% liqueur French monks make from 130 plants. Nothing really tastes like it and nothing really replaces it; yellow Chartreuse is sweeter and 40%.
- Maraschino liqueur
- A clear liqueur made from marasca cherries. It has nothing to do with the red jarred cocktail cherry — it smells of almond kernel and flowers, and it is dry, not sweet.
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
- Soda water
- Plain carbonated water. It goes in LAST and nothing is stirred after it. An open bottle goes flat fast, so small bottles make more sense than big ones.
The Story
A lower-proof spritz reading of the Last Word, the Prohibition-era equal-parts classic associated with the Detroit Athletic Club.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a The Last Spritz mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a The Last Spritz?
- Roughly 13% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a The Last Spritz be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a The Last Spritz hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.