Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Squid Mixes: Classic Champagne Cocktail


A Classic Champagne Cocktail combines Champagne (or sparkling wine; I used Prosecco), bitters and a sugar cube with a long, thin lemon twist.  My recipe, written by Rebekah Peppler, came from New York Times Cooking.  The drink was first mentioned in Jerry Thomas's How to Mix Drinks, published in 1862.  The standard bitters choice is Angostura but Peppler recommends splitting it with a lesser-used bitters.  We tried both grapefruit and cherry.

As previously discussed here, my wife doesn't like having sugar cubes around the house - too tempting for snacking.  So I was a little surprised when she suggested the recipe.

The drink is very nice.  Splitting the bitters is the right choice.  Neither the grapefruit nor the cherry competed exactly but straight Angostura would have been too much and the other presented a pleasant hint of something.  The final, bitters soaked sugar dregs are quite yummy either way.

4 comments:

  1. Well, this sounds yummy. I am wondering if your wife needed a sugar fix so suggested this in a harmless way...they way I would do it.:))

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    1. Ha! She's actually not that subtle. Plus, her job brings plenty of candy into the house. I think she just wanted to try the drink and... why not a little extra snack option around the house?

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  2. I suppose I feel that champagne doesn't need to be any sweeter?
    Mimosas are already pushing it for me.

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    1. It's a good point. There is a visual element. A sugar cube does a cool bubbling thing in champagne. I think you can see it in the photo.

      The bitters, on the other hand, definitely bring a dimension that the bubbly wouldn't normally have on its own.

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