“Aperol Spritz is still unbeatable, but we like to challenge it” – head bartender Dániel Kováts’ summer favorites from Kollázs bar

As a bartender, it is a particularly inspiring challenge to see how we can present a familiar drink in an unexpected form. A Spritz, for example, can retain its character while showing a completely new face in appearance, texture or taste. Just as chefs not only prepare classic dishes over and over again, but also enrich gastronomy with their own creations, we are constantly looking for creative possibilities in new recipes.

Classic cocktails are a source of inspiration for us, from which new ideas and new flavors can be born. We respect their origins, but at the same time it can always be exciting to approach them from a new perspective. Professional curiosity and a commitment to innovation motivate us to move away from traditional recipes from time to time and create new interpretations.

Undisputed popularity, with challengers with special recipes

According to Dániel Kováts' experience, the popularity of Spritz remains unbroken year after year. - Spritzes, especially in the summer season, remain popular drinks. Be it in the city, on terraces, during the cozy golden hour, or just chilling on the waterfront. Aperol Spritz, for example, is still in its heyday, but the other five or six classic Spritzes are also sought-after drinks.

At the same time, it is a conscious goal for Kollázs Brasserie & Bar to create alternatives that can even catch up with the eternal favorites. – Aperol Spritz has been one of the most popular choices of guests for years, and it is not by chance. At the same time, it is an inspiring challenge for us to create our own creations that can gain similar popularity with their unique flavors. The international milieu of the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest creates an inspiring environment for the birth of new cocktail creations every day.

The little secrets of the perfect Aperol Spritz

It may seem like a simple drink at first glance, but making the classic Aperol Spritz has its own subtleties. According to Dániel Kováts, in addition to the correct proportions, a well-chilled glass, the ingredients added in the correct order, and quality prosecco, such as DOC or DOCG (the latter also provides a guaranteed origin in addition to stricter control – ed.).

The details are crucial here too. The carbonated water must be fresh and full of life, as the bubble is one of the defining ingredients of the drink. Fresh orange is equally important, which not only visually completes the cocktail, but also enriches its taste experience with its aromas. In the bar, the work processes related to the fruit also receive special attention, we always work with fresh and carefully prepared fruits – says Dániel Kováts.

Frozen Peony: when Spritz turns into ice mush.

One of the most exciting new additions to the summer cocktail menu is the Frozen Peony, which the team expects will quickly become a favorite among guests. The idea for the drink was born from a very ordinary moment.

“During vacations, my kids always ask for ice slush, and at one point I thought: why not transfer this experience to the world of cocktails? That's how the idea was born to create a Spritz that comes in the form of ice slush,” Dániel Kováts shares with us.

After the concept was born, the biggest challenge was to ensure that the drink retained everything that makes the Spritz so popular around the world. Of the classic ingredients, prosecco was particularly challenging, as its character and lightness had to be recreated in this form.

The solution was ultimately born from a collaborative effort with the Kollázs pastry team. The prosecco was made into a sorbet, which is freshly blended with the other ingredients at the bar for each order. “As always, pastry chef Árpád Szűcs and his team provided a lot of creative support during the development,” adds the head bartender.

The drink, created by combining Pampelle Ruby, Opera Vodka, Pai Mu Tan cordial and grapefruit bitters, is different in taste and appearance from the usual Spritz. The Frozen Peony, enriched with prosecco sorbet, arrives on the table in a martini glass, decorated with lime peel and edible flowers, evoking summer freshness.

Milk-washed Pornstar Punch and a “green” Garden Spritz

Another favorite of the bartender is the Pornstar Punch, which retains the character of the Pornstar Martini, but is made with a completely different technology. The vanilla and passion fruit base is made even more complex this time with peach liqueur, jasmine tea, and a special bartending process called milk washing.

The drink is based on the milk washing technique, which requires both precision and patience – highlights Dániel Kováts. Larger batches are made using lactose-free milk, and then the mixture gradually becomes cloudy due to the effects of acids. This is followed by the most time-consuming part of the process: the filtering that lasts for several hours, at the end of which the hazy drink is transformed into a crystal-clear, velvety-textured cocktail.

The result is a crystal clear, slightly golden cocktail with a silkier texture and a softer, rounder flavor. Serve topped with prosecco and topped with a halved passion fruit, evoking the signature of the original Pornstar Martini.

The Garden Spritz takes a completely different direction, its name already hinting at the inspiration from which it was born. The goal this time was to put ingredients in a glass that evoke the natural freshness of a summer garden.

We tried to pair ingredients that show what we would like to reach for when we step out into the garden and look around: elderberry, mint, cucumber, and unripe grape juice to add a little acidity to the drink. The elderberry is in the form of liqueur, so it can also resemble Hugo a little, says Dániel Kováts.

The classic prosecco is replaced this time with dry apple cider, an authentic Normandy product. – We top the drink with dry apple cider. It’s not that common here yet, but we use a classic Normandy cider. The French have a much longer history in this field, I’m curious to see what place it will occupy in Hungarian drinking culture over time. Personally, I really like apple ciders without added sugar – he adds.

The end result is light, fresh and has a distinctly green character. “It’s a refreshing drink, it bursts out of the glass, and you can feel it even when you lean over the straw,” he says.

Fig leaf: the spring harvest will accompany you until summer.

One of the most unique features of Kollázs's non-alcoholic offering is a cordial made from fig leaves, whose story began in a very personal place. The idea was not given by an exotic supplier of ingredients or a foreign inspiration, but by two fig trees in Dániel Kováts' own residential community.

The story began with two fig trees that stand in the yard of our apartment building – he recalls with a laugh. – A few years ago, I also involved my children in the harvest, and in the spring we collected the leaves together, of course with great care to ensure that the trees remained intact. Since then, they have produced a bountiful harvest, and everyone in the neighborhood is slowly making fig jam or fig compote from them.

The first harvest was followed by experimentation. After thorough washing and soaking, the leaves were processed at low temperatures and then made into a cordial with water, sugar and acid. “We got an incredibly concentrated, green leafy, almost grassy flavor, with a hint of fig, which is a complete departure from the basic fig flavor,” points out the head bartender.

Since then, it's not just the family that helps with the spring harvest: fresh leaves also arrive from the gardens of fellow chefs and acquaintances, as the plant gives off the most beautiful aromas in spring, while leaves picked at the end of summer have a completely different flavor. The cordial is also popular beyond the bar: the kitchen also regularly requests it for various dishes.

Although according to Dániel Kováts, it can be made into an excellent summer refreshment by itself, topped with soda, Kollázs took the drink one step further. “It works great when refreshed with a little soda, but we further refined the recipe: we complete it with sonic, meaning that tonic is added to the glass in addition to the soda.

Kollázs Brasserie & Bar’s Spritz selection and other drinks this year show that even in a cocktail culture that’s over a century old, there’s still plenty of room for creativity. Respect for the classics remains throughout, while modern bartending techniques, unusual ingredients and playful ideas give a new perspective to a genre that most people still associate with the orange color of the Aperol Spritz. But there’s a lot more going on in the glasses at Gresham Palace this summer.