The Frozen Strawberry Aperol Spritz Is the Cocktail We’ve Been Waiting For

The winter holidays might steal the spotlight as the season for sparkling wine, but we firmly believe that summer is where it’s at. (That said, there’s no wrong time of year to open a bottle of bubbly, if you ask us!) When the temperatures rise and we’re spending more time than usual in the sun (slathered in SPF, of course), we don’t crave a heavy IPA, potent bourbon-based cocktail, or powerful red wine. Instead, we find ourselves gravitating toward lower-ABV, ultra-refreshing (and hydrating!) spritzes. 

In May, we predicted that the Hugo spritz would be 2023’s cocktail of summer, and we still stand by that assertion. Since then, we’ve seen several popular bloggers and other websites follow suit by releasing their own Hugo spritz recipes and have spied Hugos on more menus than ever before stateside.

While we still adore that minty, floral twist on the spritz, we’ll always have a sweet spot for the most popular spritz cocktail: Aperol spritz. It’s a bar menu mainstay in its home country of Italy and around the globe for good reason. With a lovely balance of bitter (via Aperol, a bitter orange and herbaceous Italian apéritif), sweet-tart (thanks to orange slices and sparkling wine), and bubbly (due to the club soda and prosecco or your preferred fizzy vino), Aperol spritzes are balanced, light, and as easy to stir together as they are to enjoy.

However, if you’re approaching the territory of being “spritzed out”—or are seeking an even cooler variation on the theme—we found a solution in a buzzy how-to video that’s taking over Instagram.

Nicole Keshishian Modic, creator of Kale Junkie and author of Love to Eat, and her friend and fellow food blogger and social media personality Olivia Adriance dreamed up this frozen drink