Review: Crodino Non-Alcoholic Spritz

Crodino has a funny name and a quirky bottle — but it isn’t new. The product has been around since 1965, though only in Italy, where it’s made.

The non-alcoholic spritz has quite a backstory, and we’ll let the brand tell it:

Crafted in Italy over a six-month infusion and blending process, Crodino delivers a bright and complex flavor profile featuring warm aromatics of clove, cardamom, nutmeg, and coriander seeds, along with more than 10 other herbs and spices, with its full recipe remaining a closely kept secret. The result is a full-bodied, non-alcoholic ready-to-serve Spritz with a spicy herbal and refreshing citrus finish.

Available in single-serve 175ml bottles, the product is distinctive and different, both vs. traditional Spritz styles and vs. other non-alc options like Lyre’s.

Crodino Non-Alcoholic Spritz Review

Here, the product kicks off with a curiously sweet attack, similar to Hi-C with candied orange notes that are reminiscent of poolside punch from my childhood. A modest bitterness breaks the idyll in reasonably short order, evoking cinchona bark before a significant punch of cinnamon and nutmeg come into the fore. These spices meld pleasantly with the candylike citrus notes, creating quite a festive feeling when served over ice.

The concoction could definitely use more of its bittering elements to approximate a true Spritz a little more closely, as the finish here is rather soft and perhaps too innocuous for those looking for something to more aggressively whet the appetite — sans alcohol, of course.

B+ / $15 per 4-pack of 175ml bottles

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