While a glass of champagne is always a good idea, by New Year’s Eve you might be a touch fizzed out after all the holiday celebrations. So consider a champagne cocktail recipe instead.
Light, bubbly, zesty, mixed with whisky… this selection of champagne cocktails are inventive yet relatively straightforward to whip up and will please many a party guest.
The Co-Naissance Cocktail by The Savoy
Pictured above
As part of The Savoy’s partnership with ecoSPIRITS, the London hotel’s esteemed Beaufort Bar has revealed the Co-Naissance cocktail, which is staking a claim as the most sustainable cocktail in Europe.
The champagne used is re-carbonated from what would otherwise be wasted elsewhere in the hotel and the elderflower element is foraged from Little Venice, while the fig comes from the nearby Embankment Gardens. Together, these carefully selected ingredients create a cocktail that is not only delicious, but also impressively eco-conscious.
[See also: Sophisticated Sipping: The Best Hotel Bars in London]
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While re-carbonating your own champagne might be a bit of a challenge, the Co-Naissance can easily be replicated at home using your choice of champagne, your favorite gin (Portobello will complement the other ingredients best, but a locally made label will be just as delicious) and homemade fig and elderflower liqueurs.
Ingredients:
1 oz Portobello Road Gin
½ oz fig leaves liqueur
½ oz elderflower liqueur
3 ¼ oz champagne
Method: Add the gin, fig liqueur and elderflower liqueur to a mixing glass and stir thoroughly before adding to a flute and topping with champagne.
Champagne With Breakfast by The Dewberry Charleston
The Dewberry Charleston is a charming old-world hotel located in the heart of downtown Charleston. Within the hotel, you can find the Living Room, a charming brass bar complete with a curated reading library.
Every detail of the decor echoes The Dewberry’s history, right down to the wooden bowls hand-crafted by local artist Hugh Jeffers from the knots of a 150-year-old white oak tree that once stood nearby.
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The bar team at the Living Room have created this champagne cocktail that blends the spice of rum and whisky with apple juice, and is topped with a celebratory splash of champagne. Be prepared for a slight kick as a couple dashes of scotch bonnet extract lend some heat to the libation.
Ingredients:
1 oz Virginia Black
1 oz Plantation 5 Year
.75 oz apple juice
.25 oz lemon juice
.25 oz simple syrup
2 dashes Scotch Bonnet extract
Topped with Haton champagne (Exclusive only to The Dewberry in SC)
Method: Add all ingredients sans champagne to shaker. Shake double strain into a coupe. Top with champagne and garnish with 3 thinly sliced apple slices, fanned out and dipped in cinnamon.
Grown Folk Mimosa by Uncle Nearest
An ever-present bastion of the hotel breakfast, a Mimosa could mean several things. It’s your wedding day, so perhaps a good idea to take the edge off. You’re on holiday, so it’s allowed. Or it’s Christmas morning (family are often more palatable after a glass of fizz).
However, Mimosas are a bit simple. Equal parts champagne and orange juice, it’s about as imaginative as cheese on toast. Uncle Nearest, the fastest-growing American whiskey in US history, has decided to shake things up with this champagne cocktail concoction, the Grown Folk Mimosa.
Ingredients:
½ oz Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey
½ oz triple sec like Cointreau
2 oz fresh orange juice
1.5 oz premium champagne
Method: Place Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, a champagne flute, and a bottle of triple sec into the freezer. Place the fresh orange juice and champagne in the fridge. Once all the ingredients are well-chilled pour all the ingredients except the champagne into the chilled flute and stir. Add the champagne and stir one last time very gently so as not to flatten the drink. Enjoy, and don’t let anyone tell you it’s too early.
Pink French 75 by Martini & Rossi
Looks aren’t everything, but an aesthetically pleasing cocktail always delights even before the first sip. The Pink French 75’s dreamy blush shade makes it almost too pretty to drink.
The classic French 75 uses gin, lemon juice, sugar and champagne. This version calls for Martini & Rossi Sparkling Rosé, hence the pink hue. The rosé is made from grapes harvested from the Piedmont region of Italy and has a blend of red and white grapes including Mocato, Prosecco and Brachetto.
Ingredients:
3oz Martini & Rossi Sparkling Rose
1oz. Bombay Sapphire
0.5oz lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
Method: Mix all ingredients except for the rosé in a shaker and pour into a coupe glass. Top with the rosé. Garnish with a lemon twist.
The Fleur Savage by Zoe Bradley
Zoe Bradley is an award-winning artist who creates astoundingly intricate sculptures from paper. Creating the sculptures by hand, Zoe specializes in floral-inspired showpieces and has worked with a number of big names — Alexander McQueen, Christian Louboutin, Louis Vuitton, Michiko Koshino and Mont Blanc to name a few.
Zoe created her signature cocktail, the Fleur Savage. Zoe’s tipple of choice is a Lychee martini; the Fleur Savage is a bright berried and fragrant twist on her favorite drink. The pretty concoction was garnished with an edible paper petal and matcha laced stem.
If that sounds a little too intricate for your after-work beverage then fear not — this simplified recipe still hits the spot. It features Bramble Bombay Gin and the famed French St-Germain, an elderflower based liquor.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Bramble Bombay Gin
¾ oz. St~Germain
1 oz. Lychee Juice*
¼ oz. Fresh Lime Juice
Top with sparkling rosé Wine
Method: To make the lychee juice, take one can of seedless lychee in syrup and blend until smooth. Then strain in a fine mesh strainer. Add the gin, St-Germain, lychee juice and lime juice to a shaker with ice. Shake then double strain into a champagne flute. Top with your preferred choice of sparkling rosé wine.
