Once upon a time, what feels like a million slow-moving eons ago, we stood at the edge of 2019 and dreamt that the decade we were about to step into would be another Roaring Twenties. Then, we tripped and plummeted face-first into this shit. Technically, "roaring" could still apply to the first year of the 2020s, but it’s more or an angry roar into the void, less of a "grab the champagne bucket, old sport" kind of thing.
So, as 2020 ends, armed with light optimism that it can’t get much worse than this, we’ve got the option to do it up big. Take some joy wherever we can find it. Toast a New Year with bubbly wine. And, because this year’s New Year’s Eve toast will have more spiritual, even existential, weight to it, we suggest dressing up that bubbly into a more substantial cocktail: the Champagne Cocktail.
This is one of those old-as-bones drinks that never loses its glamour, much like the reputations of the folks who favored it in the original ‘20s. And it’s simple—just sugar, wetted down by Angostura bitters, some fresh lemon, and champagne. Brut is best for this cocktail, because it’s sharper and dryer to counterbalance the sweet. By adding a sugar cube instead of loose sugar to the flute, you'll get a more persistent stream of bubbles rising through the drink, well past the toll of midnight. It’s a glitzy drink, and it tastes wonderfully bright.
Hey, maybe this New Year’s 2021 toast will work, and there’ll be plenty more occasions to whip up a Champagne Cocktail as time gets a move on. Won’t know 'til we try.
A Little Background
In the 1925 book Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, showgirl Lorelei Lee (later played by Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 movie adaption) declares, "So we came to the Ritz Hotel and the Ritz Hotel is devine [sic]. Because when a girl can sit in a delightful bar and have delicious champagne cocktails and look at all the important French people in Paris, I think it is devine." Divine, indeed. That fictitious character was joined in her appreciation of Champagne Cocktails at the Ritz in the Roaring Twenties by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who apparently wiled away more than a few hours sipping them there with other writers of acclaim when he and Zelda moved to Paris in 1925.
By that time, the Champagne Cocktail was already 60 years old, having first cropped up in the 1862 book How to Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas. In the 160 years or so since then, cantankerous mixologists have grumbled about diluting good French champagne with bitters, sugar, and zest, but there's an easy fix to that: Use cheap champagne.
If You Like This, Try These
For any kind of festivity, there's a champagne cocktail to match it. The Champagne Cocktail just happens to be the most classic (and easily made) one of the bunch. Here are 15 other options. One we'll highlight in particular is the Champagne Punch, another special occasion-ready drink that requires little attention from you, the host, once it's prepared. And in the spirit of winterized drinks, here are 12 other cocktails that are great to make when it's cold.
Food styling by Sean Dooley
Prop styling by Heidi's Bridge
