Christmas and New Year’s Eve are around the corner, and that means you’ll have to decide on what to serve your guests. If you’re the one throwing a party for family or friends, you’ll need to pick which beverage to serve on these momentous occasions.
The usual choice would be champagne, but why go for the same old bubbly straight from the bottle? Have your bubbly brought to you by a Champagne gift delivery service now and spice up your holiday toasts with any of these 5 champagne cocktails.
1. Mango Bellini
The Bellini was invented in 1948 by Giuseppe Cipriani, head bartender and owner of Harry’s Bar in Venice. He named the drink such as its pinkish color reminded him of the color of a saint’s clothing in one of Italian artist Giovanni Bellini’s paintings.
While his original recipe remains one of Italy’s most well-known cocktails, this one comes with a tropical twist by using mango instead of peaches.
Ingredients:
1 ripe mango
100ml Champagne
Method:
Peel and slice off the flesh of the mango and place in a blender. Add the champagne and blend until the mixture is a smooth puree. Divide the portion into 2 champagne flutes. Slowly pour more champagne to each flute if desired, but pause as the cocktail bubbles up.
2. French 75
This French invention was created as an homage to the French army’s powerful 75 mm field gun in WW1. Its original recipe was more powerful as it was made with gin, apple brandy, grenadine and lemon juice in a cocktail glass. Also called “soixante quinze”— French for the number 75, this cocktail is world-famous, but its history is often misquoted. You can read more about this interesting cocktail’s history and discover why one famous bartender said it “hits with remarkable precision”.
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Sugar syrup
50ml gin
Champagne
Ice
Method:
In a cocktail shaker, combine the lemon juice, sugar syrup, and gin. Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain the mixture into a champagne flute, topping it with some champagne. The amount of champagne isn’t exact, as you’ll have to add only as much to fill the flute. Add the champagne slowly, as the mixture will bubble up; let the liquid settle before adding more.
3. Champagne Mojito
A famous cocktail from Cuba, the mojito is one of the world’s oldest alcoholic concoctions. It was invented by English privateer Sir Francis Drake, who sailed to Havana with the intention of pillaging its gold. The effort was a failure, and to make matters worse, many of his crew got sick with scurvy and dysentery. Drake sent a small landing party ashore in Cuba to get ingredients for medicine. The landing party returned with a concoction taught to them by the local Indians. It consisted of aguarediente de cana, literally translated, “firewater of the sugar cane.” This sort-of moonshine, along with mint leaves, lime juice, and sugar cane juice was named “El Draque” to honor Drake.
It wouldn’t be called the mojito until many years later in the 1800s, when the name was adopted by the Bacardi company, and the sugar cane moonshine was replaced with Bacardi’s rum. The name “mojito” was enshrined after Ernest Hemingway discovered the drink in Cuba’s world-famous La Bodeguita del Medio. A drink with this much heritage with some champagne can make a refreshing twist to the toasting this holiday.
Ingredients:
Mint leaves
Ice cubes
25ml white rum
Juice of half a lime
1 tsp sugar syrup
A dash of Angostura bitters
Champagne
Method:
In a wine glass, place a few ice cubes. Take 5 mint leaves in the palm of one hand, and clap your other hand on them to release the leaves’ flavor. Place the leaves in the wine glass then pour in the rum, lime juice, and sugar syrup. Add a dash or two of the Angostura bitters. Gently stir the mixture, slowly topping it off with the champagne.
4. Confetti Champagne
What’s a New Year’s Eve party without confetti and booze? This champagne cocktail lets your party enjoy both. Try this simple recipe for a very festive drink.
Ingredients:
A wedge of lime
175ml of Vanilla-flavored vodka
1 bottle of champagne
1 liter Sprite
1/3 Cup Pop Rocks (all flavors)
Method:
Chill the champagne first. Then on a small plate, spread all the pop rocks candy. Mix them with a fork. Take each highball glass or similar tall glass, and wet each of their rims with the lime wedge. Dip the rims in the pop rocks. Do this until all the glass rims are coated with a thick layer of the candy. Pour in about 30ml of the Vanilla-flavored vodka into each glass. Pour an even amount of champagne in all the glasses, using up the bottle. Top with Sprite and serve cold.
5. Winter Wonder
Apart from champagne, the main component of this cocktail is blue curaḉao. This is actually an orange liqueur that’s been dyed blue. Its patent deep-blue hue doesn’t and won’t change the taste, so you can expect to taste the orange flavor. The origins of this curious liqueur are conflicting. Some say the original creator is Dutch spirits brand Bols, credited with making blue curaḉao in the 1920s. Other sources claim it was Senior Curaḉao of Curaḉao that made the liqueur on the very island of Curaḉao and was the first to dye it blue. Whichever story is true, both Senior Curaḉao and Bols still make this alcoholic add-on today.
Try this recipe to create a truly wintry drink for the upcoming holidays.
Ingredients:
22ml Blue Curaḉao
8ml grenadine
Crushed ice
120ml Champagne
Maraschino cherry
Method:
In a shaker filled ¼ of the way with crushed ice, combine the blue Curaḉao with the grenadine and shake vigorously. Strain the mixture into a champagne flute, and top with the champagne. Garnish the cocktail with a cherry on top.
Celebrating the holidays doesn’t have to be done with plain old champagne. These are just a small sample of the many possible cocktails you can make with champagne, fruit, other liqueurs, and a little creativity. You also don’t have to worry about running out of champagne, as you can always “gift” yourself or your party hosts with more bubbly from a champagne delivery service.
