Sparkling Wine Cocktails Flashcards
Bellini?
Ingredients:
2 parts Prosecco
1 part white peach purée
Dash raspberry purée
Preparation: Pour Prosecco over purées in glass. Stir gently.
Presentation: Champagne flute
History: The Bellini was created by Giuseppe Cipriani at his original Cipriani’s in Venice, Italy, sometime before the beginning of WWII but after 1934, when the bar opened. The name is said to be derived from the fact that the color of the cocktail matched that of a saint’s toga in a 15th-century painting by Giovanni Bellini. Ernest Hemingway was known for drinking copious amounts of these, as was Orson Wells. The drink became available year-round at the Cipriani bars in Venice and New York when a smart French businessman started a company to ship fresh white peach purée to both locations.
Preparations & Variations: The peach component of this cocktail varies wildly. From peach schnapps to artificial syrups, peach nectar, juices, and the occasional frozen purée, it is rarely made with a truly fresh peach purée. The original version was made with white peaches, but yellow peaches have often been substituted. Other variations include the Rossini, made with strawberry purée; the Tintoretto, made with pomegranate juice; and the Puccini, made with half peach purée and half mandarin juice.
Champagne Cocktail?
Ingredients:
Champagne or other sparkling wine
Angostura bitters
Sugar cube
Preparation: See below.
Presentation: Champagne flute, garnished with lemon peel (discarded)
Bartender Comments: As with all cocktails that have been around for any length of time, this one has several competing recipes. Noted cocktail guru Naren Young has a great tip for fully saturating the sugar without leaving a mess of bitters in the bottom of your glass to muddy up the drink. Simply place a cocktail napkin on top of the flute and adorn with the sugar cube. Liberally apply the bitters to said cube, then fold the napkin in half and deposit the sugar in the flute. Top with dry sparkling wine—whether or not you use Champagne, choose something bone dry. Pour carefully or you’ll end up with a mess on your hands. Finish by expressing the oils from a lemon peel over the surface of the drink and then toss the peel in the bin, not the drink.
Death in the Afternoon?
Ingredients:
Desired serve of absinthe
Ice-cold Champagne
Preparation: Add enough Champagne to the absinthe that the drink turns cloudy.
Presentation: Champagne flute, or preferred vessel
History: This cocktail first appears in So the Red Nose, or Breathe in the Afternoon (1935), a collection of cocktail recipes from 30 prominent authors of the time. This entry belongs to Ernest Hemingway, and he recommends, “Drink 3 to 5 of these slowly.” He goes on to say that the cocktail was created along with three officers of the H. M. S. Danae after he spent hours helping them get the captain’s fishing boat back to safety. The entry goes on to list some of Mr. Hemingway’s more notable achievements.
Preparations & Variations: While the original recipe recommends pouring the Champagne on top of the absinthe until it turns milky and opaque, the exact brand of absinthe should dictate this. Certain brands will float on top of the Champagne for a moment, turning the “louche” effect into a dramatic storm cloud. Some like to add sugar and bitters to the drink, making a deadly Champagne cocktail combination.
French 75?
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces gin
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
Champagne
Preparation: Shake gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup with ice and strain into ice-filled glass or chilled flute. Top with Champagne.
Presentation: Highball glass or flute, garnished with lemon twist
History: The French 75 is said to be named after the 75 mm French field gun used during WWI. It appeared in 1919 in The ABC of Mixing Drinks, by Harry MacElhone of Harry’s American Bar in Paris. MacElhone credited it to a bartender named MacGarry of Buck’s Club in London
Preparation & Variations: The original drink was identical to a Tom Collins except for the substitution of Champagne for soda water. Thus, many argue for the highball or collins glass as most traditional, and for serving the drink on the rocks. Nonetheless, it more often appears in a Champagne flute. Cognac can be substituted for the gin.
Mimosa?
Ingredients:
4 oz. Brut Champagne
2 oz. Orange Juice
1 barspoon Grand Marnier (optional)
Preparation: Build all ingredients in the glass.
Presentation: Champagne Flute
Bartender Comments: “It is not half-bad, and the ladies usually like it.” - David Embury. As you can see, this bears a strong resemblance to the Buck’s Fizz. Noted cocktail historian David Wondrich clears the air, noting that the fizz has a dash of grenadine while the Mimosa features a bit of Grand Marnier. But wait, that’s different than the recipe cited by Robert Hess…oh Marone!
Old Cuban?
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz. Aged Rum
3/4 Fresh Lime Juice
3/4 Simple Syrup
6-8 Mint Leaves
2 oz Sparkling Wine
Preparation: Shake all but the sparkling wine with ice and strain. Top with sparkling wine.
Presentation: Cocktail Coupe, Mint sprigs and/or lime wheel.
History: Considered to be a modern classic by many, this offering was first served by Audrey Saunders while tending bar at Beacon restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan before she opened the Pegu Club. Originally a riff on a mojito that she called the El Cubano, this was a matter of adjusting the ratio of fizz to cocktail, and using sparkling wine instead of soda water. When she added aged rum, the Old Cuban was born. It is offered as a memory of the times during prohibition when those who could, flew to Cuba to drink above ground.
Preparations and Variations: The sparkling wine that is added can drastically change the cocktail. Something bright and fresh versus a toasty wine with a ton of autolysis is not necessarily better, only different. The combinations are almost endless. Refreshing versions would include things like a straight forward 5 yr Havana Club and Cava, while rich and powerful versions could include El Dorado 21yr with a float of Cristal!
Russian Spring Punch?
Ingredients:
1 oz. Vodka
3/4 oz. Lemon Juice
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
1/4 oz. Crème de Cassis
Sparkling Wine
Preparation: Combine first three ingredients in a shaker. Fill with ice and shake. Strain over fresh ice in a highball. Top with bubbles and add the créme de cassia last to create a cascade effect.
Presentation: Highball Glass, Lemon Slice (Seasonal Fresh Berries are optional)
History: Created by London bartender Dick Bradsell in the 1980’s. He is not sure what bar he was working at when he created the cocktail, but he recounts that it came out of the necessity to save money at a cocktail party he hosted. Guests were given créme de cassis, lemon juice, vodka and sugar syrup and were told to bring their own sparkling wine.
Preparations and Variations: Can be served over regular ice or crushed ice. The créme de cassia can be mixed in initially or poured on top as instructed above.
Seelbach Cocktail?
1 Oz bourbon
1/2 Oz Cointreau
4 dashes Angostura bitters
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Top with Champagne or sparkling wine
Garnish: extra-long orange twist
It’s the signature drink of Louisville’s historic Seelbach Hotel and was once thought to be a classic cocktail rediscovered in the ’90s after decades of obscurity. However, years later, the drink’s inventor confessed to having fabricated the vintage backstory.
The supposed classic was created by bartender Adam Seger. He claimed to have discovered the recipe on an old menu from the hotel prior to Prohibition, hoping the story would help drum up business for the bar and to make a name for himself.
