Champagne Cocktail

The bubbly version of the Old Fashioned.

Swap whiskey for Champagne in the Old Fashioned template, and you’ll get this pedigreed cocktail, which was first mentioned in Jerry Thomas’s 1862 How to Mix Drinks. With its low alcohol content and bubbly constitution, this recipe makes a good candidate for day drinking. The question as to whether you pony up for the good stuff or choose a down-market sparkling wine depends largely on your opinion of the sacredness of Champagne.

Ingredients

Serving: 1

  • 1 sugar cube or 1 barspoon sugar
  • 1 sugar cube or 1 barspoon sugar
  • 3 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 3 dashes Angostura bitters
  • Champagne
  • Champagne

Garnish: long, curly lemon peel

Directions
  1. Add sugar cube or sugar to a flute.
  2. Dash Angostura bitters over sugar to soak.
  3. Slowly top up with Champagne.
  4. Garnish with a long, curly peel of lemon.
Editor's Note

A dry sparkling wine like Crémant de Bourgogne is best if you don’t have Champagne on hand. Also: the type of bitters used can dramatically alter the drink. While Angostura is classic, playing around is encouraged. Brad Thomas Parsons, author of Bitters, adds an element of citrus, employing yuzu or Meyer lemon bitters in combination with a dot of Angostura to maintain “that pretty amber hue.”