These Hugo Cocktails are delightfully refreshing with fresh mint, elderflower, Prosecco, and sparkling water!

While on a ski trip to the Dolomites in Northern Italy one winter, I encountered a tasty cocktail called a Hugo. And I couldn’t get enough of it. Fortunately for me, when I returned to my family’s home in Stuttgart, I found that the Germans were just as excited about this drink as I was and you could find it just about everywhere.

Apparently the Hugo was first created in 2005 in Northern Italy, but quickly caught on with the Austrians and Germans. You can now find it premade in bottles or made fresh at bars.

But then I moved to Texas and it was so long Hugos. That is until my sister came to town last week and brought me the key ingredient…Holunderblüten Sirup (German) a.k.a Elderflower Syrup (English) or as I usually call it Holksajfhorwinoirj Syrup (Gibberish).

Call it what you will, it is the magical essence of this drink, and I now have it in my pantry. All is well in the world.

So we made some while the girls were in town, and with a bit of playing around got the proportions pretty darn close to the Italian/German version of the Hugo.

I mentioned that the key ingredient here is the syrup, but what of the other components?

• Prosecco: A dry sparkling white wine from the town of Prosecco in Northern Italy.
• Sparkling/Seltzer Water: Apparently these are about the same thing. Seltzer was a German brand of sparkling water whose popularity transformed it into a generic trademark kind of like “Kleenex”. Club soda, however, is different. Don’t use club soda.
• Mint: Refreshing and cooling
• Lime: Zesty!

So yea we started out a little shambly, mixing them in Nalgene bottles and unnecessarily muddling the mint, but we got it right eventually. The whole thing just makes you feel so cool and chic and European and like you yourself are an Italian bartender straight out of South Tyrol.

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Hugo Cocktails

These Hugo Cocktails are delightfully refreshing with fresh mint, elderflower, Prosecco, and sparkling water!

Course Cocktails

Diet Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Occasion 4th of July, Valentine's Day

Time 15 minutes or less

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 1 serving

Calories 148 kcal

Author Live Eat Learn

Ingredients

• 1 sprig of mint
• 1 Tbsp elderflower syrup more if you like it sweet
• 1 cup Prosecco or white sparkling wine
• 1/2 lime sliced
• 1 to 2 Tbsp sparkling water
• ½ cup ice cubes

Instructions

1. Gently rub the mint leaves together to draw out the flavor, then place in glass. You can either remove the leaves from the stem or keep them on.
2. Add elderflower syrup, Prosecco, a few slices of lime, and a splash of sparkling water.

3. Serve on ice.

Nutrition Facts

Hugo Cocktails

Amount Per Serving (1 hugo)

Calories 148

% Daily Value*

Sodium 7mg 0%

Total Carbohydrates 16g 5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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