Glitz and Glamour:
It’s been called many things, but to me the Champagne Cocktail is the ultimate gilded age cocktail. It makes me think of the roaring 20’s, with glitzy balls and towers of champagne, shimmering chandeliers, and of course, the Great Gatsby. There’s just something so fancy about Champagne.
All that being said, you don’t have to make this drink with Champagne. Sure, that’s what the recipe calls for, but I think you’ll find you can still make a delicious cocktail with Prosecco or another dry sparkling wine.
The Origin Story
As with most recipes, the origination is unknown. This time it’s because the recipe is actually so old, it pre-dates the first cocktail book printed in 1862. In fact the first written reference to this drink shows up in Robert Tomes’ “Panama in 1855” book, (read it here on page 62!)
The early recipes show a few variations from the modern recipe including shaking the champagne, serving the drink with ice or adding Cognac to the recipe. All of these sound like personal preferences, except the one that shakes the champagne, don’t do that. It sounds like a terrible idea!
How to Make The Champagne Cocktail
The Champagne Cocktail
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ea Sugar Cube
- 2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters
- 5 oz Champagne or substitute Prosecco
Instructions
- Place a clean paper napkin on top of a champagne flute, and put a sugar cube on top of that.
- Dash the Angostura bitters 2-3 times into the sugar tube.
- Pour the cube into the glass, and discard the napkin.
- Slowly add the champagne (to create minimal foam).
- Garnish with a lemon peel.
