Bubbly Cocktails

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A glass of champagne gives you a feeling unlike any other beverage in your hand.  It is full of potential, full of airiness, and full of energy.  Whether you are enjoying a mimosa in the morning with friends, or celebrating an important event with a loved one, a glass of bubbly can liven things up in a way no other drink can.  Take a look at the Three Sheets episode on champagne.

I remember reading somewhere that it was too bad that champagne in America is only consumed on special occasions and for particular celebrations like New Year's Eve, and I agree with that.  A bottle of champagne is a perfect companion to many evenings, and can certainly be to good effect on almost any night when a few people gather.

I've never been a mimosa drinker - usually when it's mimosa time for others, I feel the orange juice is way too thick for my stomach.  Often for me, mimosas have been the staple for a morning after a long night of drinking, so I am in favor of a light drink that doesn't linger.  Suffice it to say I am no orangeman.


To circumvent the problem I have with orange juice in a cocktail in the morning, here's my take on a champagne cocktail with orange:



Orange Angelus
1/2 oz cognac
3/4 oz contreau
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz vodka
1 dash orange bitters
Champagne



Combine everything but champagne and stir.  Add champagne and sip, sip, sip.  The orange flavor comes out strongest from the bitters on the nose, but you can feel the warmth of the vodka for the finish fighting with the classic tickling of a sip of champagne.

Instead of the cognac and contreau, I use this French brand of orange liqueur and cognac that comes at 40% abv.  If you're doing that, find a comfortable ratio - for me it's 1oz "La Belle Orange" instead of the cognac and contreau.  Also, many champagne cocktails you will find will have some sweetener in them, I don't like sweet cocktails, so this is not sweet.  If you would like a sweeter cocktail, add 1/2-3/4 oz simple syrup.

Cocktail Databases Cocktail DB

I have always relied on simple google searches for cocktail recipes.  Often I will find myself scrolling through several sites, usually one of them a cooking site, another a non-drink-dedicated site, eventually hitting a recipe that looks good.  That all looks like it is changing.  Off of a random mention on a Cocktail Virgin post, I went to CocktailDB to check it out.

It rocks.  You can use its engine to search for flavors, ingredients, recipe names, or pretty much anything else, and choose a list of recipes.  The search results are then given in a list with primary liquors (be careful here though, I got excited several times about having all the necessary ingredients only to discover when I clicked that I needed ginger beer or something), and the recipe itself will have hotlinks for all the ingredients.

The recipes always seem to use the most pricey ingredient for the spot (like grand marnier every time instead of triple sec ever), so you have to be wary, but a little bit a behind-the-bar-creativity and you can get a good recipe.

One recent substitution I did that I won't try again: Homemade raspberry simple syrup for maraschino liqueur.  Since I've never had the cocktail in question with maraschino, I don't know what it should taste like, but I know it was good, but naked, with the syrup instead.

Left: Grand Marnier for like 35$

Right: Triple Sec for like 8$

Taste? Well, different, you can taste the quality, but it's just like any other ingredient choice, and to coin a new Redfaceism: Your Smilage Will Vary.


Anyway, check out the database, but check your liquor stockpile first.