The Ivy in the Lanes serves up some wonderful bittersweet summer spritz drinks

It’s true that things haven’t gone exactly to plan this sunny season but the Ship Street venue is currently is serving up some lovely long drinks to enjoy in the August rays.

There’s a distinctly Italian and wonderfully bittersweet flavour to The Ivy in the Lanes’ new summer drinks menu with Campari and Aperol leading the way.

It’s fantastic to see Campari gaining a larger profile again after Aperol has hogged the limelight in the UK in recent years.

Both are bitter Italian liqueurs that are used a pre-meal aperitif, because the bitterness helps create more saliva and means you’re straining at the leash ready for some vittles!

They’re both part of the family of Italian amaros (amaro means “little bitter”), with Campari dating back to 1860 and Aperol 1919.

Aperol is slightly sweeter than Campari, which was the first aperitif to use alcohol as a base rather than wine, and, rather wonderfully, was the first drink supped by James Bond in an Ian Fleming novel!

At The Ivy in the Lanes you can chose an Aperol Spritz made with Aperol, Prosecco, soda and orange garnish, or if you’re feeling like an Mi5 trained assassin with slightly questionable personal ethics, there’s the similarly created but slightly more adult Campari Spritz.

There’s also a Passionfruit Spritz, made with Campari, Fair passionfruit liqueur, soda and Prosecco, and a Sloeppino, consisting of Aperol, Sloe Gin, lime and vanilla syrup, topped with mango sorbet and Prosecco.

For those who plan to operate heavy machinery after their spritz, there’s also an alcohol-free option in the form of a Crodino Spritz, a bittersweet, non-boozy sparkling Italian drink.

The final three options on the exclusive summer menu feature the nice touch of being partly poured table-side from a Jeroboam.

A Watermelon Spritz features Aperol, Rosé Vermouth, watermelon, strawberry, lime and Prosecco, the Lychee Aperol Spritz, Aperol, lychee juice, soda and Prosecco, or the phenomenally popular Rosé Whispering Angel, Chateau d’Esclans,

Cotes de Provence.