Who doesn’t love a good celebration? A classic champagne cocktail is a timeless celebratory favorite elixir, which is perfect for any festivity. Bubbles always add to any celebration and the classic champagne cocktail is a delicious choice. Today we are celebrating the classic champagne cocktail recipe.
We just celebrated Mother’s Day with this timeless classic cocktail, which prompted this post. It’s a perfect celebratory cocktail! It’s the perfect glass to raise for all the graduates right now or for all the summer weddings or the upcoming patriotic festivities. Whatever the celebration is, a classic champagne cocktail is the perfect way to go. It never disappoints.
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About the Classic Champagne Cocktail
The classic champagne cocktail consists of bubbles (champagne or sparkling wine) with a sugar cube, bitters and brandy. The traditional garnishes consist of a lemon or orange peel and a Maraschino cherry. It all makes for an elegant and pretty beverage.
It’s said that the classic champagne cocktail dates back to the mid-1800s. Needless to say it’s a classic with staying power. Some have even ventured to say it’s the oldest classic cocktail known around the world. It’s definitely a golden oldie, although it has had some variations through the years.
The original recipe(s) had no mention of brandy or cognac, which is used in more current ingredient lists like today’s recipe. We use brandy in our champagne cocktail, but I know many use cognac. It’s a slight variation with the same flavor profile purpose. I believe the addition of brandy was introduced somewhere in the early 1900s and here we are.
Recipe for Classic Champagne Cocktail
Some profess to serve the classic champagne cocktail in a flute since the sugar cube at the bottom will drive all the bubbles up. While others prefer to use a coupe since it allows the bubbles to spread outwards, opening up the flavor. Either way, it’s evident the sugar pushes the bubbles to come alive, which is one of the beautiful things about this drink.
Ingredients
- 4-6 oz. champagne, depending on the size of your glass
- 1 sugar cube
- 2-3 dashes bitters
- 1/2-oz or splash Brandy
- Orange slice or peel garnish
- Maraschino cherry garnish
Instructions
- Assemble all ingredients
- Drop sugar cube to bottom of glass
- Add bitters on top of sugar allowing them to soak into cube
- Splash brandy on top of sugar cube and bitters
- Top off with champagne, filling glass
- Garnish with cherry and orange
Tips & Tricks of the Classic Champagne Cocktail
Since you are adding other ingredients to the champagne or sparkling wine, I would recommend to not necessarily use super spendy bubbles. At the same time, I would also recommend using bubbles which taste good on their own.
Although the traditional garnishes for the classic champagne cocktail include orange slices, lemon peel and Maraschino cherries, we chose to use mint leaves during our Mother’s Day celebration. We have fresh mint growing in the vegetable garden, and we wanted to take advantage of it. Also a Maraschino cherry is syrupy sweet and on top of the sugar cube it’s a lot of sweetness, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but we opted for a fresher garnish. Feel free to experiment and make it your own.
Ideally a champagne cocktail should be served as cold as possible. Chilling the champagne to perfection is critical. Besides having the champagne chilled, you can also chill your glasses. Others have also recommended to chill the brandy or cognac. Since it’s only a splash, I find the impact is minimal, but you do you.
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Closing Thoughts on Celebrating the Classic Champagne Cocktail
I added a strawberry to mine since it’s my go to. On a bit of a side note, on our wedding day all I asked of my maitre D was to make sure I always had a fresh strawberry in my glass of champagne during the reception. I love to eat the berries with the burst of champagne flavor, which needed to be replenished during the evening. It’s the little details that sometimes make a difference.
These Waterford flutes are from our wedding registry, which were the ones Mr. M and I toasted from during our wedding reception. Here I am almost three decades later celebrating Mother’s Day and enjoying the good life with bubbles and berries. Plus today, as I write this, is our 27th anniversary. Life is so full circle sometimes.
Salud friends! I hope you find a classic champagne cocktail in your near future, if that’s your jam of course. Either way, thanks for being here.
Wish List for Celebrating the Classic Champagne Cocktail
- These Waterford champagne flutes are very similar to our Barrymore pattern.
- For a more reasonable choice, these champagne flutes give all the feels.
- I really like these flutes since they are similar to my parent’s crystal.
- I love a good traditional champagne bucket, since it always gives party vibes.
- Wow! This a grand piece, perfect for any celebratory party.
Remember, gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for, it’s Champagne!”
Winston Churchill
Classic Champagne Cocktail
Ingredients
- 4-6 oz Champagne or Sparkling Wine
- 1 cube sugar
- 2-3 dashes bitters
- .5 oz brandy splash
- 1 ea orange peel or slice
- 1 ea maraschino cherry
Instructions
- Assemble ingredients
- Drop sugar cube to bottom of glass
- Add bitters on top of sugar allowing them to soak into cube
- Splash brandy on top of sugar cube and bitters
- Top off with champagne, filling glass
- Garnish with cherry and orange
