Around here, we’re firm believers that champagne should not be reserved for New Year’s Eve and major life milestones. On the contrary, champagne cocktail recipes are vital for all cocktail lovers.
Did you meet a deadline at work? Crack open a bottle of bubbly. Made it through the week without any major catastrophes? Sip sip, hooray! The sun is shining? Shower yourself in a fountain of bubbles.
With the versatility of champagne, there’s no reason these lovely sparkling cocktails shouldn’t be part of your regular drinking repertoire.
1. Classic Champagne Cocktail
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minutesThis classic drink is simple and elegant. With just a couple of ingredients, you can party like it’s 1862.
Ingredients
1 sugar cube
Angostura bitters
6 oz chilled dry champagne or sparkling wine
Lemon peel
Instructions
- Place the sugar cube on a napkin. Add a few dashes of bitters to the cube until it is soaked. Then drop it carefully into a chilled champagne flute.
- Fill the glass with chilled champagne.
- Garnish with lemon peel twist.
Notes
Classic Champagne History & Pairing
The first written description of this simple drink dates back to 1855 when it appeared in a work titled Panama in 1855 by physician and writer Robert Tomes. He describes a friend making one for him and then recommends that the reader “… not taste Champagne cocktails, for they are so supremely good that if he once takes them, he will continue to take them, and not take [water].”
By 1862, it had appeared in its first cocktail book, How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon Vivant’s Companion by Jerry Thomas. And it’s been in book after book ever since.
Strain Pairing
1. Classic Champagne Cocktail
1
People1
minute1
minute168
kcal2
minutesThis classic drink is simple and elegant. With just a couple of ingredients, you can party like it’s 1862.
Ingredients
1 sugar cube
Angostura bitters
6 oz chilled dry champagne or sparkling wine
Lemon peel
Instructions
- Place the sugar cube on a napkin. Add a few dashes of bitters to the cube until it is soaked. Then drop it carefully into a chilled champagne flute.
- Fill the glass with chilled champagne.
- Garnish with lemon peel twist.
Notes
Bellini History & Pairing
Unlike some cocktails, we know exactly who invented the Bellini and when. That distinction goes to bar owner Giuseppe Cipriani, who founded the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice in 1931. The story goes that Giuseppe was a bartender to a wealthy regular customer named Harry Pickering. Harry fell on hard times when his rich family cut him off, unhappy with his drinking and dissolute habits.
Giuseppe felt for Harry and lent him 10,000 lire, or about $500. This was big money back in the 1920s. Two years later, Harry repaid the loan and repaid it with interest to the tune of 90,000 lire. He told Giuseppe they could use the money to open a bar and call it Harry’s Bar.
The first Bellini was served in 1948. It was named for its lovely peachy blush color, which reminded Giuseppe of the colors used by the 15th-century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini. You can still get one at Harry’s Bar today.
Strain Pairing
1. Classic Champagne Cocktail
1
People1
minute1
minute168
kcal2
minutesThis classic drink is simple and elegant. With just a couple of ingredients, you can party like it’s 1862.
Ingredients
1 sugar cube
Angostura bitters
6 oz chilled dry champagne or sparkling wine
Lemon peel
Instructions
- Place the sugar cube on a napkin. Add a few dashes of bitters to the cube until it is soaked. Then drop it carefully into a chilled champagne flute.
- Fill the glass with chilled champagne.
- Garnish with lemon peel twist.
Notes
Kir Royale History & Pairing
The legend of this cocktail dates back to Nazi-occupied France. When the Nazis took over Burgundy in 1940, a local priest named Felix Kir refused to flee. Instead, he stayed behind and helped 5,000 prisoners of war escape from the nearby camp Longvic.
During these long years, the Nazis seized the local Burgundy wine. So Kir blended a local dry white wine with black currant liqueur to create a drink of a similar color. This drink became known as the Kir, and the champagne version became the Kir Royale.
Strain Pairing
1. Classic Champagne Cocktail
1
People1
minute1
minute168
kcal2
minutesThis classic drink is simple and elegant. With just a couple of ingredients, you can party like it’s 1862.
Ingredients
1 sugar cube
Angostura bitters
6 oz chilled dry champagne or sparkling wine
Lemon peel
Instructions
- Place the sugar cube on a napkin. Add a few dashes of bitters to the cube until it is soaked. Then drop it carefully into a chilled champagne flute.
- Fill the glass with chilled champagne.
- Garnish with lemon peel twist.
Notes
Aperol Spritz History & Pairing
The “spritz” took hold in Northern Italy as far back as the early 1800s. When the region was seized by Austria-Hungary, the resident Austrians would add a spritz (or spray) of water to tone down the local wine. The style maintained its popularity throughout the century, evolving to swap the water for club soda and the wine for liqueurs.
Aperol hit the scene in 1919 and gained popularity through the 1920s and 1930s. By the 1950s, Aperol had come up with their “official” spritz recipe, and it took hold of Italy. In the 2000s, Campari (which now owns Aperol) went on a media blitz and the drink became a summer staple everywhere.
Strain Pairing
1. Classic Champagne Cocktail
1
People1
minute1
minute168
kcal2
minutesThis classic drink is simple and elegant. With just a couple of ingredients, you can party like it’s 1862.
Ingredients
1 sugar cube
Angostura bitters
6 oz chilled dry champagne or sparkling wine
Lemon peel
Instructions
- Place the sugar cube on a napkin. Add a few dashes of bitters to the cube until it is soaked. Then drop it carefully into a chilled champagne flute.
- Fill the glass with chilled champagne.
- Garnish with lemon peel twist.
Notes
French 75 History & Pairing
The early versions of this champagne cocktail recipe — or something very like it — were popular during the cocktail craze of the mid-to-late 19th century. But the first version of this recipe committed to paper appears in a 1927 Prohibition-era cocktail book called Here’s How by Judge Jr. It was named the French 75 in honor of the rapid-firing 75-millimeter field gun the French army relied on during World War I.
A few years later, the recipe made an appearance in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock, and it’s been a staple ever since.
Strain Pairing
1. Classic Champagne Cocktail
1
People1
minute1
minute168
kcal2
minutesThis classic drink is simple and elegant. With just a couple of ingredients, you can party like it’s 1862.
Ingredients
1 sugar cube
Angostura bitters
6 oz chilled dry champagne or sparkling wine
Lemon peel
Instructions
- Place the sugar cube on a napkin. Add a few dashes of bitters to the cube until it is soaked. Then drop it carefully into a chilled champagne flute.
- Fill the glass with chilled champagne.
- Garnish with lemon peel twist.
Notes
Black Velvet History & Pairing
This dark drink was invented during a dark time. In 1861, England was mourning the death of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. A bartender at the Brooks Club of London channeled the nation’s collective sadness into this deep cocktail.
Strain Pairing
Get More Cocktail Recipes
Want to expand your repertoire into some more classic cocktails? Check out this list of The 7 Best Cocktails: Their Recipes and Strange Histories.
