How to Make an Elderflower Spritz, the Floral and Fruity Champagne Cocktail

A drink where the flavours work so well together, its invention was practically inevitable.

By Jason O'bryan 14/05/2025

I think of certain cocktails as being “inevitable.” The Daiquiri, the Whiskey Sour, the Manhattan… these are drinks wherein the flavours work so well together, it was only a matter of time until someone put them together. These are also all drinks whose specific histories are lost to time for that exact reason. Who first mixed a Mojito? Who cares! Even if it were knowable (which it’s not), it wouldn’t matter. It was inevitable.

The Elderflower Spritz is, similarly, inevitable. Combining elderflower with white wine (still or sparkling) and soda is the most obvious and viscerally delicious thing possible with a bottle of St-Germain. Interestingly, though, unlike the Tom Collins or Old Fashioned or any of the other similarly inevitable drinks, St-Germain was only released in 2007, and so what’s fun about the Elderflower Spritz (and its resultant coterie of nearly identical cocktails, Hugo Spritz, the Hummingbird, and the St-Germain Royale) is that you can see this convergent evolution happen in the modern era and in real time.

In 2005, in the small northern Italian town of Naturno about 10 miles from the Austrian border, Roland Gruber invents the Hugo Spritz, initially a combination of Prosecco, soda water, mint, and a lemon balm syrup. Gruber also experiments with a syrup made from local elderflowers, which are abundant in late-spring and early-summer in that part of the world and whose bright, juicy floral qualities mix brilliantly with the exuberant acidity of sparkling wine. A few years later, St-Germain debuts, and this year-round and reliable source of elderflower flavour gets absorbed into the recipe for the Hugo Spritz, which becomes tremendously popular in and around Italy, Austria, and Germany.

The next year and most of a continent away, St-Germain is about to be released in the U.K. The brand contacts bartender Simon Difford for help with an original launch cocktail, and Difford immediately recognises the capacity of St-Germain to complement the piquant fruit, floral, and mineral qualities in white wine. He creates the Elderflower Spritz, which combines St-Germain with soda water and a touch of flat white wine, in this case Sauvignon Blanc. He calls it the Elderflower Spritz.

Less than a year after that and on the other side of the Atlantic, Death & Co. had just opened their doors in the East Village, and the newly launched St-Germain was precisely the type of exciting and thoroughly mixable liqueur that caught their interest. Bartender Phil Ward initially makes a gin Old Fashioned that he calls the Elder Fashion, and then the next year, too astute to ignore how well the flavours would go with sparkling wine, he adds Champagne and calls it the Elder Fashion Royale, the suffix “royale,” as with the famous Kir Royale, meaning “with Champagne.”

And finally—some of you know this drink as a Hummingbird, but why? By the 2010s, St-Germain was already a powerhouse. They hadn’t yet sold to Bacardi but were becoming a household name, and what they were calling the St-Germain Cocktail (St-Germain, sparkling wine, soda, and a lemon twist) was the signature recipe of the brand. In late 2011, founder Rob Cooper somehow got it into his head that the mixture should have a more cocktail-like name, so they rebranded the St-Germain cocktail as the “Hummingbird.” The rebrand didn’t last—by late February 2012, the official website had reverted the name to the “St-Germain Cocktail.” It’s possible Cooper was onto something, though, because even though the Hummingbird existed for barely a season, the name has persisted through the echo chamber of recipe blogs and bartender memories. Because of these three months over 13 years ago, I personally have been asked for a Hummingbird while behind the bar at least half a dozen times in the last few years.

Today, St-Germain has absorbed all of them (except the Hummingbird) into official brand cocktails and present all three with subtle differences: The Hugo Spritz and St-Germain Spritz are identical but for mint in the former and a lemon twist in the latter, and the St-Germain Royale ditches the soda water and trades Prosecco for Champagne. We find this unhelpful, so in light of Mother’s Day—the kind of day for which pretty, low-ABV, and inevitably delicious sparkling cocktails are most in need—we offer our favourite recipe, and below that, some guidance on the variables to make the best version for you.

Elderflower Spritz

  • 0.5 oz. St-Germain
  • 3 oz. Champagne
  • 2 oz. soda water

Make sure the soda water and the Champagne are well chilled. Add ice to a Collins glass or wine glass (gently!) and add ingredients, stirring to combine. Garnish with a mint sprig, clapped gently between your hands to release the oils. 

NOTES ON INGREDIENTS

St Germain elderflower liqueur

Elderflower Liqueur: This is not an advertisement for St-Germain, I promise. There are others—St. Elder is drier, Giffard has a good one, but I must say St-Germain has become synonymous with the category not only because it was the first to be a global success but because it’s so good. St-Germain has a juicy, tart floral quality that has earned it the somewhat dubious praise of “bartender’s ketchup,” which is to say, it mixes unusually well in many different situations. I advise it.

As for quantities. 0.5 oz. of elderflower liqueur will give a gentle floral boost to the flavours of the spritz, present but subtle, with not much excess sweetness. This is what I personally prefer. That said, there’s a lot of wiggle room here for personal tastes; if you like your spritzes a bit sweeter or are a particular fan of the elderflower flavour, you can go ahead and double that and it’s still a great drink.

Sparkling Wine: Again, it was all pretty good, but if you’re trying to make this drink as good as it can be, use Brut Champagne. Yes, Prosecco is traditional and tasty, but Prosecco is already bright fruit and florals, and so while it and elderflower aren’t exactly playing the same note, they are in the same octave. Champagne, by contrast, goes through secondary fermentation in the bottle, so it (along with its less expensive sibling Cremant, and even less expensive cousin Cava) has a deep, bready quality that is more like a duet.

We also tried the original suggestion from Difford on Sauvignon Blanc, and it was good, but not as good as Champagne. In all honesty, I can’t think of a white wine that wouldn’t work in this case. Jeffrey Morgenthaler had the initial instinct to pair St-Germain with an Oregon Pinot Gris, which I’m sure was delicious. You can do anything from Chardonnay to Viognier and it would be good. The flavours, as mentioned, are so good as to be inevitable. We just think Champagne is best.

Soda Water: What’s the soda water doing here? It’s adding space between the flavours and making it all more refreshing. If you don’t have soda water you can obviously make it work with just the wine, but the soda helps keep the proof low, the refreshment high, and the flavours from being too intense. It’s recommended.

Garnish: The question here is mint vs. lemon peel, and it’s not aesthetic—they make very different final products. Lemon peel is traditional—Rob Cooper reportedly would instruct his team to refuse to serve their signature cocktail unless it had a lemon peel—which so complements the flavours at work as to nearly disappear.

Mint, on the other hand, brings in something new. Mint is more annoying to keep around and more annoying to deal with, but as a bartender, the mint version is the one that more vividly grabs and holds my attention, and the one I prefer.

Put another way—they’re equally delicious, but mint is more interesting. Take that for what it’s worth.

Photo credits (top): Maria Korneeva/Getty Images

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Omega Just Unveiled 9 Watches in Its New Constellation Observatory Collection

The line-up shows up a bevy of metals and colours, too, as well as two new calibres.

By Nicole Hoey 31/03/2026

Omega’s latest watch is in a universe of its own.

The Swiss watchmaker just unveiled its new Constellation Observatory Collection today, the next step in its Constellation lineage and the first two-hand hour and minute timepieces to ever earn Master Chronometer certification. And if you were paying attention to any of the dazzling watches spotted at the Oscars this year, you would’ve caught a glimpse of the new line already: Sinners star Delroy Lindo rocked one of the models on the Academy Awards red carpet, giving us a pre-release preview of the collection.

Developed at Omega’s new Laboratoire de Précision (its chronometer testing lab open to all brands), the collection houses a set of nine 39.4 mm watches. The watches underwent 25 days of scrutiny there, analysed via a new acoustic testing method that recorded every sound emitted from the timepiece to track irregularities, temperature sensitivities, and more in the name of all things precision. (Details such as water resistance and power reserve are also thoroughly examined.) This meticulous process is all in the name of snagging that Master Chronometer label, meaning that the timepiece is highly accurate and surpasses the threshold for ultra-high performance. The Constellation Observatory Collection has now changed the game, though, thanks to its lack of a seconds hand.

A watch from the Constellation Observatory Collection, with the Observatory dome on display. Omega

“Until now, precision certification has required a seconds hand,” Raynald Aeschlimann, president and CEO of OMEGA, said in a press statement. “The development of a new acoustic testing methodology has made that requirement obsolete. It is this breakthrough that has enabled us to present the Constellation Observatory, the first two-hand watch to achieve Master Chronometer certification.”

In addition to notching its place in history, the collection also debuted a new pair of movements: the Calibre 8915 and the Calibre 8914, each perched on a skeletonised rotor base. The former’s Grand Luxe iteration will appear on the 950 Platinum-Gold model in the collection, which offers up that base in 18-karat Sedna Gold alongside a Constellation medallion in 18-karat white gold with an Observatory dome done in white opal enamel surrounded by stars. The second Calibre 8915, the Luxe, will find its home on the other precious-metal models in the line, either made with the brand’s 18-karat Sedna, Moonshine, or Canopus gold seen across the case, the hand-guilloché dial, and, of course, the movement itself. (Lindo chose to rock the Moonshine Gold on Moonshine Gold iteration, priced at approximately $86,000, for Sinners‘s big night at the Oscars.) As for the Calibre 8914, it can be found in the collection’s four steel models.

 

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A look at a gold case-back from the collection. Omega

Each model is a callback to myriad design features on past Omega models. That two-hand dial, for one, comes from the 1948 Centenary (the brand’s first chronometer-certified automatic wristwatch), while the pie-pan dial (seen in various blue, green, and golden hues throughout the line) and that Constellation medallion caseback both appear on watches from 1952. The star adorning the space above 6 o’clock also harks back to 1950s timepieces from Omega. And to finish off the look, you can opt for alligator straps in a variety of colours, or perhaps a gold iteration to match the precious-metal models; the brick-like pattern on the 18-karat Moonshine bracelet was also inspired by Omega watches from the ’50s.

We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for any other Constellation Observatory timepieces (or any other unreleased models from the brand) at the rest of the star-studded events headed our way this year—perhaps the Met Gala?

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Best Combustion Supercar: Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider

A modern classic in the making, combining naturally aspirated power with elegant restraint to deliver performance that feels as refined as it is visceral.

By Vince Jackson 20/04/2026

In a year when carmakers of all persuasions sheepishly extended hyperbolic electric targets, it’s fitting that the monastic puritans of Maranello—who, lest we forget, won’t finally yield to the sin of battery power until October with the Elettrica—opted to make combustion their major power play.

As an uncertain future of AI omnipresence barrels towards us, the 12Cilindri—an analogue, open-topped tribute to Ferrari’s late-’60s/early-’70s grand tourer, the Daytona—represents a defiant fade into the past, a pause for breath, a fleeting return to The Good Times when nascent technology provoked excitement rather than existential dread.

Guiding this automotive nostalgia trip is, as the nomenclature suggests, a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine, generating an unceasing wave of power as it sears towards the 9,500 rpm redline with relative nonchalance. That’s because the 12Cilindri is not a mouth-foaming attack-dog. It scales performance heights with the refinement of the finest Italian works of art; its “Bumpy Road” mode facilitates comfy al fresco GT cruising, and even the imperious powerplant is mannerly at most speeds.

For all the yesteryear romance, progressive technologies and engineering, such as a world-class 8-speed transmission, advanced electronic aids and independent four-wheel steering, are baked into the deal. The 12Cilindri’s clean, stark design somehow toggles between retro and modern; and while vaguely polarising, one can’t ignore its magnetic road presence.

In terms of aesthetics, Ferrari describes the 12Cilindri as being “ready for space”; in many ways, a fantasy vehicle that transports users to another dimension is probably what the world needs right now.

The Numbers

Engine: 6.5-litre V12

Power: 610kW

Torque: 678 Nm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto

0-100 km/h: 2.95 seconds

Top speed: 340 km/h

Price: From $886,800

Photography by SONDR.
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Inside Loro Piana’s First Sydney Boutique

A first Australian address brings the Italian house’s textile-led approach to retail full circle.

By Horacio Silva 26/03/2026

On the fourth floor of Westfield Sydney, near the Castlereagh and Market Street entrance—in the space formerly occupied by Chanel—Loro Piana has opened its first Australian boutique. It is a significant address change for that corner of the mall, and a meaningful one for the Italian house, which has sourced Australian merino wool for decades but until now had no retail presence here.

The facade is understated—creamy, tactile, more about texture than theatre. Inside, the store unfolds across a single, expansive level divided into distinct men’s and women’s wings. The separation is clear without being heavy-handed: womenswear leads from soft accessories and leather goods into ready-to-wear, while menswear occupies its own assured territory, with tailoring and outerwear given proper breathing room. Footwear (supple loafers, luxurious slides, pared-back sneakers) is particularly strong, and the sunglasses are a quiet standout: mineral-toned frames with a disciplined elegance that feels entirely of the house.

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The Spring 2026 collection now in store underscores that sensibility. Silhouettes are elongated and fluid; cashmere, silk and featherweight merino move in sandy neutrals, creams and muddied earth tones, with flashes of marigold and pale turquoise breaking the calm. Tailoring is softly structured and projects confidence without aggression. Leather goods arrive in buttery skins that feel almost pre-lived, as though time has already worked its magic.

What distinguishes Loro Piana, particularly in a market that has grown noisier by the season, is its refusal to perform luxury in an obvious register. There are no oversized insignias telegraphing allegiance. Instead, the status is encoded in fibre count, in hand-feel, in how a coat hangs from the shoulder. It assumes the wearer knows and, crucially, does not need to announce it.

Sydney’s luxury landscape has matured in recent years; global houses no longer test the waters but commit to them. Yet Loro Piana’s arrival feels different. It is not trend-driven expansion but material logic. For a country whose sheep stations have long contributed to the house’s fabric story, this boutique reads almost as a thank-you note written in cashmere.

 

Photography: Courtesy of Loro Piana.

 

 

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This Stylish, Water-Resistant Dopp Kit Might Be the Last One You Ever Buy

Patricks’s limited-edition wash bag is designed to keep liquids in and out, so it can come along wherever your travels take you.

By Justin Fenner 11/03/2026

If all you’re going to do is look at it, a leather Dopp kit from a fashion house is a fine choice. But if you take travelling seriously—and do it often, for business, pleasure, or both—such a bag will inevitably end up blemished with droplets of water or stained by errant flecks of toothpaste. Get stuck with a cavalier team of baggage handlers, and it can even get soaked in your favourite fragrance or anti-ageing serum.

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You Can Now Place Bets on the Future Prices of Rolex Models

And which models will get discontinued next, thanks to a new collaboration between Kalshi and Bezel.

By Nicole Hoey 11/03/2026

You can bet on pretty much anything these days, from when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will get married to who will be the next James Bond—and now that includes the Rollies on your wrist, or on your wishlist.

Prediction market platform Kalshi, regulated in the U.S., and luxe watch marketplace Bezel have teamed up on a new platform called Watch Futures that allows users to splash down cash on where they think the prices of a particular luxe timepiece are going, whether that’s a Rolex Submariner or a coveted Patek Philippe, Time & Tide reported.

You can also place a wager on which models might be discontinued, as well as any future launches from the top watchmakers on the new platform; with Watches and Wonders coming up, it’s certainly a well-timed launch that could see a lot of activity as a slew of new releases are announced at the event.

Watch Futures is all based on Beztimate, Bezel’s system (once used only internally) to help it accurately calculate the market price of a timepiece. It draws data from real-time transactions, live bids, verified sales, and other market offers to spawn its own series of independent valuation models to establish a watch’s value. From there, it’s up to bettors to place their wagers, and then the platform will showcase any price fluctuations or other updates as time goes on.

This new platform could have some pretty large implications for the watch industry.  As any horological savant would know, the internet and collectors alike are constantly chattering about which models are on the way out or when a certain timepiece of the moment’s time in the limelight will fade, of course, having a large impact on the prices of said model. And now, a Watch Futures user can have a direct stake in where a model is headed—and if they own said timepiece, it can be a protection from dwindling values on the marketplace, say, if a user places a bet on their model losing value and that actually comes to fruition.

To see Watch Futures in real time (and scope out how some pieces in your collection are faring), you can use the Kalshi app or its website.

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