CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL ANYONE?

Champagne cocktail anyone?

At the Bridal Shower I recently co-hosted with my friends Barbara & Lisa we set up a beautiful self-serve Bubbly Bar.

Champagne is such a festive choice of beverage for special occasions but why stop with simple champagne? Why not kick it up a notch by offering your guests a choice of champagne cocktails?

So here’s what we did at the Bridal Shower. We came up with recipes for 3 of our favorite cocktails using champagne. The 1st one being a classic “Champagne Cocktail” which is made by dropping a sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne glass, soaking it with bitters and adding a twist of lemon. We framed each of our three cocktail recipes in inexpensive ($4.99) but very pretty picture frames we found at IKEA. In keeping with our white and gold party color scheme, we used a metallic gold pen to hand write the recipe.

We also offered our guests the recipe and ingredients to make a Kir Royale. This classic French cocktail is typically prepared with Crème de Cassis, a liqueur made with currents. In our case we prefer the addition of Chambord. Chambord Liqueur is made by infusing Cognac with red and black raspberries and Madagascar vanilla. So we also had a bowl of raspberries nearby to use as a cocktail garnish. The white frame can be purchased here.

According to legend, Chambord was inspired by a raspberry liqueur produced for King Louis XIV during his visit to Château de Chambord in the 17th century. This impressive Château is located in the Loire Valley of France. I visited it a few years ago and while it was not my favorite Château, I did pick up a bottle of its namesake liqueur while there which today graces the shelves of our bar at home.

We also suggested to our guests that St. Germain makes a nice addition to their champagne as well. According to the St. Germain website, the liqueur is created in the artisanal French manner using freshly hand-picked elderflower blossoms. Elderflowers are small, white starry-shaped flowers that begin to bloom right about now. In Europe, the flower is used in many foods and drinks, but in the U.S. it’s gaining popularity in the form of this liqueur. I have several elderflower bushes growing wild on my property and one day plan to make my own elderflower liqueur.

The third recipe we suggested to our guests was a Bellini. A Bellini cocktail is traditionally made with Prosecco, the sparkling wine of Italy, to which peach purée or nectar is added. The cocktail is said to have originated in Venice, Italy at the famous Harry’s Bar, a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Welles. The last time we visited Venice I of course had to try one and have enjoyed them ever since. In fact, you can buy Bellini’s premade in bottles throughout Italy.

In addition to the peach puree, we also offered fresh squeezed orange juice for Mimosas as well as fresh pomegranate juice. The carafes we served the juice in are only $2.99 at IKEA. We purchased the Bubbly Bar sign for $20.00 here on Etsy and painted it with gold spray paint.

To make our Bubbly Bar all the more festive we froze berries into ice cubes and dipped our champagne glasses in gold pearlized sugar sprinkles. To insure that the sugar sticks to the rim of the glass, first dip the glass in a lightly beaten up egg white and then into the sugar. Our lovely sequinned tablecloth was rented from La Tavola Fine Linens.

The champagne tub came from Home Goods. By the way, when selecting champagne for champagne cocktails there is no need to purchase an expensive variety. In fact, it would be a shame to mix anything into a fine champagne. So, save money and still have a great cocktail by using an affordable champagne.

Chocolate dipped strawberries are also a perfect accompaniment to champagne and are so easy to make yourself.

We had personalized coasters made for our Bubbly Bar. They are great because they are reusable and fun to keep in a home bar. My husband received some as a gift for his bar imprinted with “Brad’s Bar” on them.

All of our guests had such fun preparing their very own champagne cocktails just the way they liked them best and our Bubbly Bar was the hit of the party. In closing let me leave you with this fitting quote by Oscar Wilde, “Only the truly unimaginative can fail to find a reason to drink Champagne.”

So there you have it: CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL ANYONE?

Cheers!

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