Four summer aperitifs from the terrace, from zove to bermet
No Aperol, no imported syrups and no excuses — four aperitifs that you make from what grows behind the house and sits in the fridge.
Aperitif is not pizza before pizza. It's the break between the heat and dinner, the moment when your heart rate hasn't dropped yet and your appetite is just starting to wake up — and that's why it has to be bitter as well as refreshing, never sweet to the point of nausea. We made all four things that follow on the terrace at +34, with measured ratios and ingredients that you buy at the market or collect from the border. No one asks for a bottle more expensive than 1,500 dinars.
Four recipes, four temperatures
1. Zova spritz — the smell of June in a cup
Elderflower syrup is a homemade substitute for St-Germain that costs a dime. If you pick it yourself: 15 flowers, 1 liter of water, 800 g of sugar, juice of two limes, let stand for 48 hours in the shade. It goes to the wine glass60 ml of syrup, 90 ml of dry white (Grasac or Smederevka), 60 ml of soda, a full ice cube tray and a lime wedge. Bitter gourd is missing? A drop of geranium on top. This is a continuation of the story from our guideabout spritz without Aperol— same principle, different smell.
2. Prokupac rosé with rosemary
Homemade rosé fromPro-buyerit has acidity and red berry that needs nothing but a little structure. Crush a sprig of fresh rosemary in the bottom of the glass, add120 ml of rosé served at 8–10 °C, 40 ml of tonic water and ice. Rosemary gives a resinous note that cuts the sweetness of the fruit. We wrote in detail about which rosé to takeI will guide you through the style that summer is looking for.
3. Bermet tonic — Srem's forgotten trump card
Sremski Bermet, an aromatized wine from Fruska Gora with over 20 herbs and spices, has stood in the shadow of Italian vermouths for decades without reason. Cold bermet is thick, bittersweet, almost medicinal in the best sense. The recipe is brutally short:50 ml of red vermouth, 100 ml of tonic water, ice, orange slice. It is served iced, at 6 °C. This is an aperitif for someone who thinks they've tried everything.
If you pick it yourself: 15 flowers, 1 liter of water, 800 g of sugar, juice of two limes, let stand for 48 hours in the shade.
4. Sour cherry and brandy — for those who do not shy away from strength
Domestic cherries and vines are a combination that works like clockwork. It goes in the shaker40 ml of grapes, 30 ml of sour cherry juice (unsweetened), juice of half a lemon, 20 ml of apple syrup, shake well with ice and strain into a glass over fresh ice. Sour cherries give color and depth, vines give backbone. Served at 4 °C, drunk slowly.
What matters to all four
Ice is an ingredient, not a decoration — a real, large mold melts more slowly and doesn't dilute pizzas in the first five minutes. Bitterness is a must: an aperitif that is only sweet kills the appetite instead of opening it up. And the temperature: everything below 10 °C, because a warm aperitif is a contradiction. If they are accompanied by a bite, let it be salty and fatty - pecorino, a piece of prosciutto, olives. For a light summer breakfast before all that, there it isfig, ham and coffee.
Questions & answers
short and to the point- What should I replace Aperol with in a homemade spritz?
- He calls it flower syrup with a drop of bitter gourd, or Srem bermet. Both give a more complex aroma than Aperol and cost significantly less.
- At what temperature is a summer aperitif served?
- Below 10 °C without exception. Bermet and sour cherry go at 4–6 °C, spritzes at 6–8 °C with a full ice cube tray.
- What is Sremski Bermet?
- Aromatized red wine from Fruska Gora with over 20 herbs and spices, bittersweet profile. Homemade alternative to Italian vermouth, served iced with tonic.
