Spricer

Ingredients

The drink

• 100 mldry white wine, well chilled, ideally a Serbian Smederevka, Tamjanika, Grašac (Welschriesling) or Župljanka
• 100 mlsparkling mineral water, ice cold, Knjaz Miloš or another mineral-heavy Serbian water
• Ice, only if the wine is not cold enough

For a jug (bokal), 6 glasses

• 600 mldry white wine, chilled
• 600 mlsparkling mineral water, chilled
• 1lemon, sliced (optional and not traditional)

Directions

1. Chill both bottles hard, to 6–8 C. A spricer is built, never shaken or stirred with a spoon, so there is no chance to cool it once it is in the glass.
2. Pour the wine first, filling the glass halfway.
3. Top with the sparkling mineral water, poured down the inside of the glass at an angle so you keep as much of the carbonation as possible. Do not add ice if the wine and water are properly cold.
4. Serve at once, before the fizz goes, with a small plate of something salty: kajmak on bread, olives, or slices of white cheese. If making a jug for the table, build it in the same order in a glass bokal and pour immediately; a spricer that has sat for twenty minutes is flat and sad.

Technique

• The mineral water matters as much as the wine. Serbian and Balkan mineral waters are highly carbonated and mineral-rich, and that salinity is what makes a spricer refreshing rather than merely weak. Soft, lightly carbonated water gives a flabby drink.
• Use a dry, high-acid, unoaked white. Anything oaked, sweet or heavily aromatic turns cloying once it is diluted, and an expensive wine is wasted here.
• Spricer is a summer and afternoon drink, ordered by the glass or by the 1 litre bokal in kafanas across Serbia and Vojvodina. It is deliberately low in alcohol and meant to be drunk over hours.
• The name comes from the German spritzen, to spray, and reflects the Habsburg influence in Vojvodina, where the same drink is called gemišt after the German gemischt.

Substitutions

• No Serbian white? Any crisp dry white works: Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or a dry Riesling.
• Bambus is the standard swap if you want red: red wine with cola instead of mineral water.
• Plain soda water can replace mineral water, though you lose the saline edge that makes the drink.

Variations

• Gemišt, the identical drink under its Vojvodina and Croatian name.
• Bambus, red wine with cola, the winter counterpart.
• Špricer sa bazgom, with a splash of elderflower cordial, a modern summer version.

History

Vojvodina’s Austro-Hungarian legacy drink, standard in Serbian kafanas and summer terraces.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spricer?

Spricer is a cocktail from Serbia: white wine lengthened with soda water, ordered by the glass or jug. Vojvodina’s Austro-Hungarian legacy drink, standard in Serbian kafanas and summer terraces.

How long does Spricer take to make?

Spricer takes 2 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 1 glass. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Spricer?

Yes, within limits. No Serbian white? Any crisp dry white works: Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or a dry Riesling. Bambus is the standard swap if you want red: red wine with cola instead of mineral water. Plain soda water can replace mineral water, though you lose the saline edge that makes the drink.

What is the most important thing to get right in Spricer?

Chill both bottles hard, to 6–8 C. A spricer is built, never shaken or stirred with a spoon, so there is no chance to cool it once it is in the glass.