Celebrate The New Year With These 5 Champagne Cocktails
The season of celebrations isn’t over yet, so start stocking your wine refrigerator with some of your favorites bubbly because we have five fun fizzy champagne cocktails for you to enjoy. Whether you plan on hosting and big new year’s party or you plan on cuddling up with your cat at midnight, these champagne cocktails are the perfect way to kick off the new year. Packed with festive flavors and simple to make, you’ll wish the year would never end.
How to choose your champagne
Your favorite champagne or sparkling wine label should always be your first choice because you will enjoy these drinks so much more. However, if you don’t have a favorite winemaker, we recommend finding a mid-shelf dry champagne to balance out the sweeter flavors that will be added to your champagne.
The reason why we highly recommend going with mid-shelf champagne is because it will compose the majority of your drink and you will be able to taste it. People often forget that a good cocktail consists of all high-quality ingredients and in this case, champagne is the most important ingredient.
Flavored champagnes will be fun to use with these cocktails but keep in mind that the flavors may clash or be too overwhelming. It’s best to go with classic champagne without additional flavors, however, choose a bottle of champagne based on your preferences.
How to perfectly chill your champagne
Before you start crafting your festive bubbly beverages, you’ll need some perfectly chilled champagne. You may be thinking you could just throw the champagne in the freezer but don’t even think about doing that! Rapidly chilling champagne at extremely low temperatures can kill the bubbles in the champagne, leaving you with just plain wine. Also, people often forget their champagne in the freezer and there is a dangerous chance of your bottle exploding.
The best way to store your champagne is horizontally in a wine refrigerator because it ensures your champagne will be evenly cooled but it isn’t cold enough to damage this delightfully bubbly wine. Even a standard home refrigerator isn’t ideal for storing and chilling your champagne because it doesn’t have the humidity control, which is so essential for preventing the cork from drying out.
The best method for achieving perfectly chilled champagne is storing it in a wine refrigerator until you’re almost ready to serve and then to get the champagne to the perfect drinking temperature, chill the bottle in a bucket of ice until it reaches about 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit. This should only take approximately 5 minutes or so.
Bring on the bubbly
Now, that you have perfectly chilled champagne, you’re ready to start crafting some cocktails. Good news for you, these cocktails are so simple, it won’t take you until next year to make them. These bubbly beverages can be made in minutes and with minimal ingredients. Cheers to that!
1. Cran-’t Wait To Ring In The New Year
This champagne cocktail has the festive flavors of cranberry and orange for a sophisticated new year’s celebration. Paint the night in cranberry-red with this mildly fruity champagne cocktail.
Simply, fill your champagne glass 3/4 of the way and then add a splash of orange liqueur and a splash of cranberry juice. Simple, elegant, and tasty.
You can rim the glass with sugar or golden sugar sprinkles for a fun and fancy touch and add a couple of whole cranberries to garnish your cocktail. We cran-’t wait to celebrate!
2. Midnight to Morning Mimosa
Planning on partying until past midnight? We have the perfect pick-me-up champagne treat for you! You may have your doubts that this strange combination of flavors will work but trust us, this cocktail is going to be your new favorite going into the new year.
Fill your champagne glass 3/4 of the way and add 1 ounce of cold brew coffee or cold brew coffee liqueur. Add a couple of dashes of chocolate bitters and garnish with a lemon peel.
This champagne cocktail will have ready to enjoy every last moment of 2019 and help you start new memories in 2020!
3. Berry-Ready for the Ball Drop
Mix up your usual champagne routine with this berry-delicious cocktail! Watch the ball drop with this bubbly berry beverage and your guests won’t be disappointed. It’s easy to craft and even easier to drink!
Grab your favorite mixture of fresh berries and blend them up. Strain your puree and pour about 1 ounce the mixture into your champagne glass. Alternatively, you can buy some mixed berry juice for an even easier method. Top with champagne and garnish with some basil leaves for a fresh and herbaceous flavor and a couple of berries for a fun flare.
4. Sparkle and Spice Up the New Year
In need of a change for the new year? We don’t blame you. We have the perfect cocktail to spice up your champagne without committing to a spicy new year’s resolution. This simple way to enhance your champagne will be something you’ll come back to throughout the year.
Fill your glass with your favorite champagne, drop in a cinnamon stick and a lemon peel. Sip and enjoy! So simple, you can make it with your eyes closed but don’t fall asleep before midnight!
5. Rockin’ Raspberry New Year
Have a rockin’ new years eve with this punchy take on champagne! This bubbly concoction will have you dancing the night away with friends or alone in your pajamas. This sassy and simple champagne cocktail is so easy to make, you won’t be missing a minute of the new year’s special.
In a glass or pestle and mortar, muddle up some raspberries. Alternatively, you can blend up some raspberries. Scoop a teaspoon of the puree into a champagne flute and fill with champagne. To garnish, simply add a couple of mint leaves and whole raspberries into the glass.
Leave a comment