The Alcohol-Free Spritz, Upgraded: 5 JIN JIN Summer Serves

The spritz has earned its place as the drink of summer. Something cold and bright in the glass, ice clinking, the evening stretching out ahead. The trouble is that most alcohol-free versions get the picture right and the drink wrong: too sweet, too thin, gone in three sips with nothing to hold your interest.

That is usually a base problem, not a recipe problem. Most 0% spritzes are built on syrup and flavouring, so there is nothing underneath the fizz. A spritz needs a backbone.

JIN JIN is a naturally fermented concentrate (an enzymatic cordial) made from over 30 plants and fermented in small batches for more than six months. That slow fermentation is what gives it the depth a proper spritz needs: plummy and gently tart, with notes people variously describe as balsamic, sherry-like, even a little cola. It changes character depending on what you pour it with, which is exactly what you want from one bottle across a whole summer.

Each serve below takes under two minutes. One bottle holds 30 servings, so you are looking at roughly £1.20 a glass. Here is how we are drinking it this summer.

1. The Signature Spritz

The place to start, and the serve we pour at tastings.

Fill a large wine glass with ice. Add 20ml of JIN JIN, top with about 200ml of chilled sparkling water, and stir gently. Finish with a slice of lime.

Clean, dry and quietly complex. If you only try one serve, make it this.

2. JIN JIN & Tonic

Swap the sparkling water for a good tonic and the drink turns aperitif. The gentle bitterness of quinine picks up the ferment's tartness the way it would a classic bitter liqueur.

20ml JIN JIN, plenty of ice, 150ml tonic, and a slice of grapefruit if you have one. Serve it before dinner and watch it disappear first.

3. The Garden Spritz

For the greener end of summer: 20ml JIN JIN over ice with sparkling water, three or four ribbons of cucumber, and a sprig of mint slapped between your palms before it goes in.

The cucumber cools the ferment's darker notes right down. This is the one for a hot afternoon in the shade.

4. The Evening Spritz

Later in the day, let the drink lean into its depth. Build the Signature Spritz, then add a dash of freshly squeezed lemon and a couple of dark berries, blackberries or cherries, pressed lightly against the ice.

The sherry and balsamic notes come forward and it starts to feel like something you would linger over. No hangover attached.

5. The Jug Serve

Hosting a few people? Scale it rather than making rounds.

In a large jug: 120ml JIN JIN, a full bottle of chilled sparkling water, plenty of ice, sliced orange and a handful of mint. Stir once and let people help themselves. That is six serves from one pour, and you stay in the conversation instead of behind the counter.

A quick word on why the base matters

A spritz built on syrup gives you sweetness and nothing else. A spritz built on a living ferment gives you layers: JIN JIN is raw, unpasteurised and made without any added synthetics, so every glass carries the enzymes and beneficial bacteria the six-month fermentation creates. It is a drink that happens to fit into your day well beyond aperitif hour, but in July, over ice, it simply tastes like summer done properly.

Make it your ritual this summer

One 600ml bottle is 30 serves, which is a whole summer of spritzes for £36.

[Shop the JIN JIN bottle] and if you add a second, UK delivery is on us.