Spaghett and the City

This new beer-based spritz is the drink of summer

First came the Michelada, then the Shandy. Now comes the Spaghett, a crisp, fizzy Aperol spritz-inspired beer cocktail served in an icy cold bottle of Miller High Life, naturally; it’s the Champagne of Beers.

If you’ve never heard of a Spaghett, don’t feel bad; neither had I. I learned about it a few weeks ago when I interviewed my friend Patrick Watson when he opened Hidden Rivers, his new beer bar in Gowanus, where 12 taps show off New York State’s finest suds and beer-focused cocktails are at the forefront. When he told me about the Spaghett, I was rather incredulous. “A Spaghetti?” I asked, convinced he had meant to say he was serving pasta.

“No, not pasta, it’s a Spaghett! It’s one of the simplest pleasures in life,” he explained of the drink that was invented in 2016 by bartender Reed Cahill at Wet City Brewing in Baltimore, Maryland; a Miller High Life with an ounce poured out into a shot glass, fill the bottle with an ounce of Aperol, add a squeeze of lemon. The shot of beer goes to the server (cheers!), and the guest gets the Spaghett.

Patrick is putting a lot of love into the formula, doing both a Daytime Spaghett, made with equal parts Aperol, Contratto and fresh squeezed lemon juice hit with a little honey, and a Nighttime version leveled up with Amaro and Dolin Rouge. “It’s the perfect backyard summertime drink,” he said.

I spent most of Sunday drinking them while watching The World Cup, and I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree. The Spaghett comes in at a lower-ABV compared to a real cocktail, which is very nice for day drinking. Plus, it’s fizzy, slightly bracing and beautifully balanced, and there’s something rather magical about drinking a pink cocktail out of a ice cold bottle of Miller High Life.

Matt Sherman, 49, who lives in Carroll Gardens, was introduced to the Spaghett last summer at Abilene, his local bar and was instantly hooked. “It’s hard to be a dude of a certain age ordering Aperol spritz,” he said. “It feels a little less traditionally manly, but the Spaghett is the same principle. It’s refreshing and gives you a little juiciness and I love the ritual of having a bartender get the extra shot of High Life.”

When Matt’s father died a few months ago, his barfly friends knew what to send for the Shiva. “I came home from meeting the Rabbi to find a twelve pack of High Life and a bottle of Aperol on my doorstep. My mom and sister were like,” What the hell even is this? I popped open High Life poured in a shot of Aperol, went out on the back porch, and took a sip.” It’s that kind of drink.

Of course, once I discovered The Spaghett at Hidden Rivers I began to see them everywhere — at the newly reopened Montero’s in Brooklyn Heights, at Abilene in Carroll Gardens, Congress Bar in Cobble Hill, where it’s made with pony beers, at Bar Great Harry on Smith Street, where Berto Aperitivo is used instead of Aperol, and at Honoré Club in Ridgewood, where it’s done the classic way. In the city, it’s an off menu special at Bar Pimi and also on the menu at Pinky Swear.

And then, while researching the trend for this story, I stumbled onto the kings of the Spaghetts – Lucas Fenton and Eggy Godlee —friends who grew up together in New York City and now run Spaghetts of NYC, an Instagram channel they started about a year ago that aims to review, rank and archive all the Spaghetts in the city.

Eggy (left) and Lucas on their way to trying all the Spaghetts in the city.

The pair of twenty-something friends are industry folks – Lucas works for a beer distribution company and Eggy is a server at a Brooklyn restaurant — who started the channel when they discovered an egregiously priced Spaghett ($18!) and decided they needed to share where not to go for the humble beer spritz.

“The Spaghett shows you that the most simple thing can be so delicious,” Eggy said. “It’s an elevated twist on a classic spritz which is such a universal drink, but at its root affordable and fun. It’s also a conversation starter. People will be like “why is your High Life that color?” He’s not wrong there. It is an instant social networking device.

Their journey of 70-ish Spaghetts (so far) has produced a few favorites (they have a leaderboard here): the ones served at Dolly Swing & Dive in Williamsburg and at Greenwood Park in Park Slope, where it’s on their happy hour menu. While they are partial to the classic Aperol and High Life combo, they also shout out the one at Ray’s made with Faccia Brutto Apertivo and the one served at Que Beer in Gowanus, where it’s made with a Czech beer poured from a Lukr tap, which is patented for Czech pilsners and releases a creamy velvety foamy head on top. “It’s a totally different experience,” Eggy said.

Hidden Rivers serves two versions of the Spaghett ($9 each): The Daytime and the Nighttime.

The pair are adamant about two things: a Spaghett must be made with a MHL and it must be affordable. “It shouldn’t be more than $10, and even that is a bit ludicrous when you see the price of Miller High Life,” Lucas said. “Ideally, it’s in the single digits.” I’m here for that.