Jane Macquitty, The Times

Even for me, wine doesn’t hit the spot when the heat rises, so make a splash this summer with a refreshing spritz or cup — and I don’t mean wishy-washy Pimm’s.

Sipsmith’s fragrant Original London Cup is a star summer turn, but if you want less alcohol, Sacred’s richly spiced Rosehip Cup is the bottle to buy.

The vile, fluorescent Aperol Spritz uses Mickey Mouse prosecco as a base, but grown-up spritz drinkers will opt for Aldi’s floral Organic Grillo Spumante Brut (£6.99) instead. For more of a vermouth spin with your spritzer, snap up my favourite orange peel, cardamom and cinnamon-spiked French Vermouth Blanc from Marks & Spencer, just 14.9 per cent and £6.67 for 50cl until August 26.

Historically, a spritzer was white wine cut 50-50 with soda. Nowadays pubs often add a generous dash of soda to a large glass of wine. Whatever your preference, it’s still a thirst-quenching combo. Try jazzing yours up with one of the brilliant new Ketel One Vodka Botanical Spirits. Choose from Ketel’s Grapefruit & Rose, served with a pink grapefruit slice, plus a splash of white wine and soda water, poured over ice; or Ketel’s Cucumber & Mint. Both are lower-strength 30 per cent spirits (£22.50, 70cl, from ocado.com). Hello, summer.

“With batched cocktails now found in some of the world’s leading bars, the stigma against this style of serve has largely disappeared,” says Pritesh Mody, the founder of World of Zing, which specialises in craft cocktails, hot sauces and seasonings.

For the lazier imbibers among us, this is very good news indeed: we can now quite simply pour ourselves a fairly decent negroni or Old Fashioned over ice, straight from the bottle.

“If mixing seems like too much hassle, try Britain’s best bottled spritz. It is a delicious combination of plum, red cherry and lemon twist with a lower alcohol percentage.”