Embla chef Dave Verheul changed the game when he entered the world of drinks a couple of years ago, bottling the understated elegance that defines his cooking and unleashing it on the market in the form of amari and vermouth under a label called Saison. In a bubbly development, Saison has now teamed up with Mischief Brew to create a bold spritz that screams summer: a lighter-style amaro made with blood oranges, marigolds and oregano blended with a tonic water that’s every bit as considered. The end result, Verheul says, is a lighter, dryer, and more vibrant Aussie take on a very popular European drink – here’s everything you need to know about it.
Give us the elevator pitch: what makes this spritzy boi special?
Two Australian craft drink makers have united to create a bright, balanced, mature spritz just in time for summer.
Who are you and what are you all about?
Saison was created because I really love bitter drinks. I wanted to share that with others and showcase the versatility of what amari and vermouth could be. I approach aperitifs in the same way I approach food – with an emphasis on clear, vibrant flavours derived from produce that has been grown in the most natural way and by the best people. I’ve never worked for Diageo or the like, and I didn’t create this product after months of analysing what market need it might fill. I just followed my instincts with flavour, as I have done for 25 years in the kitchen.
This can is a collaboration between Saison and Mischief Brew. We’ve been fans of each other’s products for a long time; the Mischief Brew crew has been drinking Saison and tonics on a Friday afternoon for a while. Both of our businesses have very similar stories and a similar ethos in the way that we make our products. When we started chatting last year, we found there were only a small handful of good quality, non-mass-produced aperitif cans on the market and we saw it as a niche we could sit within. The trend of people drinking lower-ABV products is strong, but drinkers are also hunting out more interesting products to spend their drinking credits on. So with that, a spritz for adults was welcomed into the world.
Explain like we’re five: how do you make it?
The amaro base is made by macerating and distilling flavours from around 25 different botanicals, including blood oranges, cumquats, chinotto and oregano. These are blended into wine, sweetened lightly and aged in old French oak wine barrels for six months. It’s then shipped down to Adelaide, where Mischief Brew’s Dan Cox and Scott Giles blend in a custom tonic water mix, carbonate it and can it. We intentionally keep the sugar much lower than most other aperitif brands out there, and we also only use natural ingredients in our products, which isn’t as common as you might expect.
Working through this idea with the Mischief Brew guys has been great; it’s been a real collaboration from start to finish. It’s also been another important opportunity for me to learn every part of the process and not just be the person who has the idea.
What excites you about this project?
I mean, what isn’t fun about making tasty drinks and putting them into little cans?
What are the perfect conditions to enjoy Amaro Tonic?
Aussies have the aperitivo occasion figured out, we just don’t call it aperitivo historically like the Italians do. It’s only recently that we’ve really started to embrace small-batch products that are made naturally, contain less sugar, and are lighter on booze. An Aperol Spritz is a beautiful thing, but it has a lot of sugar in it. If we can still deliver the complexity of a spritz, but do it in a more Australian way with natural ingredients, that’s a really wonderful thing.
Is this here for a good time or a long time?
The feedback has been amazing so far. So as long as people keep loving it then we’ll keep making it.
Where can I buy it?
In Melbourne, you can find them at Morning Market, Meatsmith and Maker & Monger, and in Sydney at P&V and Winona.