Every major holiday that we encounter throughout the year comes with a certain signature item that we seem to stock up on leading up to that fateful day, and are inevitably left with extra after the day is over. For New Year’s Eve, if you weren’t drinking Champagne by the flute-full, I’m not really sure what you were doing. For the rest of you, perhaps you have a few bottles on reserve in your refrigerator that you didn’t have time to guzzle down before the ball dropped and the rest of the night became a bubbly blur.
Champagne cocktails are some of my favorites, mostly because they don’t need many ingredients to be delicious. Champagne on it’s own has a very distinct flavor as well as those signature bubbles, so coming up with a few post-New Year’s Eve champagne drinks can be both simple and fun. Just because the holiday is over doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a glass of bubbly!
Champagne Cocktail image via Shutterstock
Below are some fun and easy cocktails to make at home with those bottles of Champagne that, somehow, didn’t make it into your belly in 2012. Never fear, your bubbly will not go to waste. Cheers, and happy new year!
What are your favorite champagne cocktails? Let us know about them in the comments section.
Champagne Mojitos
Courtesy of Food & Wine3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups packed mint leaves, plus more for garnish
6 lime wedges
2 cups light rum
Cracked ice
3 cups Champagne or sparkling wine
In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water over high heat until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool to room temperature. In a large pitcher, combine the syrup with the mint leaves and lime wedges. Muddle, and add in the rum. Stir well and strain into another pitcher. Fill glasses with cracked ice and pour in the mixture two-thirds of the way up the glass. Top with Champagne, and garnish with mint sprigs.
Cork County Bubbles
Courtesy of Food & WineIce
1 oz Irish Whiskey
1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1 tsp honey mixed with 1/2 tsp warm water
1 oz chilled Champagne
1 lemon twist
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine all of the ingredients except the Champagne. Shake vigorously and straiin into a chilled flute. Stir in the Champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.
Mimosa
1 cup orange juice
Chilled Champagne or sparkling wine
In a flute, pour in orange juice two-thirds of the way. Top with Champagne. Stir gently to combine.
Barbotage
Courtesy of Esquire.com1/2 oz cognac
1 tsp Grand Marnier
4 oz Brut Champagne
Pour the cognac and Grand Marnier into a Champagne flute. Top with Champagne and stir to combine.
Champagne Punch
Courtesy of Esquire.comBrut Champagne
1 1/2 oz brandy
1 1/2 oz Cointreau
1 bottle club soda
1 orange rind
Pineapple slices
Orange slices
Mint
Strawberries
In a punch bowl, combine all the ingredients with ice. Decorate with the sliced pineapple, orange, and fresh mint. Crushed strawberries are a nice touch for flavor and appearance.
Comments
This list is a bit of a poor showing. Where are the French 75s and the like? Also, the mimosa recipe is a shame. It's much better with GM or Cointreau, less OJ and more brut.
Jan 03, 2013 at 6:14 PM
These are virtual recipes! Who will EVER have leftover Champagne...? ;-)
Jan 03, 2013 at 6:51 PM
I'm really surprised at the recipes (and bartenders) who will still "muddle" the mint into a Mojito. It makes for a very green, unpleasant pungency of the chlorophyll in the drink, not the proper mint oils that are "supposed" to be the star of the drink. Proper mint handling for an excellent Mojito--ice, mint, then squeeze some fresh lime juice over the mint to "delicately" allow the mint oils to filter into the drink--rather than a bunch of yucky pulverized mint leaves laying dead in its own chlorophyll--add a spritz of soda or better yet, some Moscato d'Asti (but if using leave out simple syrup or add only a tiny bit) to allow mint oils to seep into ice, then rum and so on.
Jan 03, 2013 at 7:48 PM
Leftover champagne. Really? My favorite of all, a classic champagne cocktail, you failed to include. And I always thought Mimosas included a slight kick of something else, either Cointreau or Grand Marnier, also with a spritz of Peachtree Schnapps, which is a sort of secret ingredient that most people adore. As someone above also mentions, way too much orange juice. Who really cares about the orange juice, after all?
Jan 04, 2013 at 12:53 AM
1173024
Or...how about remembering the " Strawberry Alarm Clock" by adding those wonderful strawberries to that traditional Mimosa.....
Jan 04, 2013 at 3:03 AM
Very disappointed with the list here. I was hoping for some original recipes that would be great for leftover bubbles (or those cheap ones given as gifts).
Jan 04, 2013 at 12:08 PM
Another favorite of mine is Pama, Pomegranate liqueur 1/2 " in the bottom of the glass, fill with champagne and sprinkle Pomegranate seed on top.
Jan 08, 2013 at 6:01 PM
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