Summer Rosé Spritzer

Meet your new go-to summer cocktail. This Summer Rosé Spritzer is floral, bubbly, and incredibly refreshing. Plus, it comes together in about two minutes flat and is easy to serve to a crowd!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why this recipe works
• 🗒 Ingredients
• 🍋 Recipe tips
• 🎉 How to make a big batch
• ☀️ More summer cocktails
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

My preferences for the perfect summer cocktail? I'm all about the sparklers and spritzers. Bonus points for pink. And citrus.

I spotted this Summer Rosé Spritzer in Bon Appetit magazine and immediately went out and bought a bottle of bitters because I had to make it.

It's such a simple, summery, and PINK cocktail!

❤️ Why this recipe works

Elderflower and rosé are complement each other so well: both carry delicate floral notes, so the elderflower liqueur amplifies the wine instead of competing with it and makes for the perfect balanced cocktail.

Bitters help add depth without heaviness: I use Peychaud's Bitters in this drink, which bring a subtle floral, anise-like complexity that keeps this drink from being one-dimensional.

No muddling required: all the flavors of the cocktail meld together and the lemon releases its natural essence without any muddling needed.

Tastes like summer in a glass: the flavors, the effervescence, and even the color all make this drink the ultimate summer cocktail. Serve it at dinner parties, at al fresco cocktail hour, or even at summer BBQs.

🗒 Ingredients

Here's everything you need for the summer rosé spritzer (be sure to check the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):

• Lemon slices
• Peychaud's bitters
• Elderflower liqueur
• Ice
• Sparkling rosé

🍋 Recipe tips

• I recommend using a dry rosé. A sweeter one will throw off the balance with the elderflower liqueur, which is already pretty sweet.

• Don't skip the bitters. It might seem like a small addition, but the 4 dashes of bitters are actually contributing a lot to the drink as they add a layer of complexity you'd miss without them.

• Be sure to use fresh lemon slices and not bottled juice. Bottled lemon juice won't give you the same aromatic quality you get from an actual slice sitting in the glass.

• On extra hot days, I recommend chilling your glasses before making the cocktails. A cold rocks glass will keep the drink cooler longer, which is especially important for a spritzer where you want that effervescence to last.

• Pour the rosé slowly and pour it last. Pouring it over ice slowly helps preserve the bubbles.

Because this is so quick to make, you don't have to waste any time before heading outside in the sun to enjoy the first of what is hopefully many summer cocktails. Drinks in the sun is pretty much my favorite part of summer.

And that is especially true when there's lots of citrus involved. A rosé spritzer is like a super grownup, way less sugary version of lemonade.

Or maybe it's more like pink lemonade?

🎉 How to make a big batch

This summer rosé spritzer scales up easily for a crowd!

I recommend mixing the bitters and elderflower liqueur ahead of time, then pouring over ice and topping with rosé right when you're ready to serve.

Spritzers all around!

Before I made this cocktail, I Instagrammed my bitters and my friend mentioned she just bought bitters, too, because of a Summer Rosé Spritzer she saw in Bon Appétit. What a coincidence and pretty much verification that the magazine is doing something right.

☀️ More summer cocktails

If you're looking forward to a summer full of sipping cocktails outside, check out some of my other favorite summer cocktails!

Guess what? I've got more sparkling delights coming for you later this week. Happy almost summer! 

What's your perfect summer cocktail?

If you're looking for some other fabulous rosé recipes, check out my Watermelon Rosé Slushies or my Rosé Sour Patch Kids.

📖 Recipe