thePULSEBy Thomas Hodgson and Steph Moore
We all know the four classic champagne cocktails (and for those of you who need a refresher…not to mention refreshing!…course, the recipes are listed at the bottom of the page): Bellini, Mimosa, Champagne Cocktail, and Passion-Fruit Champagne Cocktail. And while these classics are delicious and will never go out of style, we though we’d introduce you to some funkier drinks that’ll tickle your nose and put you in the perfect mood for Valentine’s Day!
So whether you decide to prepare one of the drinks below for a romantic, candlelit dinner or for a leisurely breakfast in bed with your sweetie…Bottoms up and enjoy!
Champagne Flirt
½ oz brandy
1 cube of sugar
4 oz. of champagne
½ oz. Cointreau
Peychaud Bitters
Add Cointreau, Brandy and a sugar cube saturated with Peychaud Bitters to a champagne flute. Fill with your favorite champagne. Garnish with an orange twist.
Strawberry Kiss
¾ oz Vodka
3 oz. Champagne
¾ Strawberry Brandy
Pour into a wine glass half-filled with broken ice. Garnish with two halves of a strawberry, and serve.
Soyer Au Champagne
Champagne
¼ teaspoon Cognac
¼ Teaspoon Maraschino liqueur
¼ teaspoon Triple Sec
3 tablespoons vanilla ice cream
1 maraschino cherry
Mix cognac with ice cream and liqueurs in glass. Fill with champagne, stir. Top with cherry.
The Vixen
1.5 oz Smirnoff Flavored Vodka
Pink Grapefruit Juice
Pink Lemonade
Serve in a Martini glass.
Valentine’s Kiss
1 1/2 oz. Jose Cuervo Especial
2 oz. Chilled Cranberry Juice
2 oz. Chilled Apple Juice
Club soda or seltzer
Ice
Fill a glass with ice. Add tequila, cranberry juice, and apple juice. Top off with soda.
Black Velvet
5 oz chilled Guinness
1 ½ oz chilled Champagne
Preparation: Pour Guinness into champagne flute. Add champagne carefully, so it does not mix with Guinness, and serve.
Ritz Fizz
1 dash amaretto
1 dash blue curacao
1 dash lemon
champagne or a sparkling wine
Start with adding a dash of amaretto, a dash of blue curacao and a dash of lemon in a champagne flute. Fill the glass up the rest of the way with champagne.
Champagne Polonaise
4 oz Champagne
1/2 oz blackberry brandy
1/4 oz Old Krupnik® honey liqueur
Serve in a champagne flute.
Champagne Flip
3/4 oz brandy
2 – 3 dashes Cointreau® orange liqueur
1/4 oz cream
1/4 oz sugar syrup
1 egg yolk
4 oz Champagne
1 pinch nutmeg
Shake brandy, Cointreau, cream, sugar syrup and egg yolk over ice cubes in a shaker. Strain into a champagne flute, and carefully fill with champagne. Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.
Blushing Bride
1 oz peach schnapps
4 oz Champagne
1 oz grenadine syrup
Pour the peach schnapps and grenadine syrup into the bottom of a champagne flute. Fill with Champagne, and serve.
_____________________________________________________________________
The Classics
BELLINI
1 quart puree of fresh peaches, sugar to taste, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 quarts chilled champagne. Sweeten the peaches with a pinch or two of sugar, stir in the lemon juice and put the mixture into a punch bowl. Add the champagne and mix well. Makes about 12 servings.
MIMOSA (also called a 50/50)
1 part orange juice, 1 part champagne. To minimize fizzing, add orange juice to champagne flute first, then add champagne to top off.
CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL
1 sugar cube, 2-3 drops (or to taste) Angostura bitters, 4 oz. champagne. Place sugar cube in flute, drip the bitters onto it, then add champagne. If making a round (or several) of these, put sugar cubes in a bowl and soak with bitters first, then drop pre-soaked cubes into flutes just before filling.
PASSION-FRUIT CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL
1 cup chilled passion fruit nectar, 1/2 teaspoon Angostura bitters,1 cup chilled champagne, 4 fresh raspberries or small strawberries, 1 orange slice, halved.Divide nectar and bitters between 2 chilled champagne flutes. Add champagne. Drop 2 berries into each drink. Garnish with orange. Makes two servings.
