Sparkling · Celebration · Spring

Champagne Cocktail

A sugar cube soaked in Angostura sits at the bottom, cognac and cold Champagne go over it. The bubbles keep pulling the bitters back up as you drink.

Base: Champagne
Glass: Champagne flute
Method: Build
Strength: 13% ABV

Ingredients

90 mlChilled Champagne1 swap
Dry sparkling wine or Proseccohigh
Little change
10 mlCognac1 swap
Brandy or Armagnachigh
Similar; Armagnac is bolder
2 dashAngostura Bitters
few dropsGrand Marnier optional1 swap
Cointreaumedium
Less oaky, a touch drier
1 cubeSugar Cube

How to make

Technique

Build · 10–15s

Building straight in the glass keeps it simple and preserves any fizz.

Place the sugar cube with 2 dashes of bitters in a large Champagne glass, add the cognac.
Pour gently chilled Champagne.

Serve

Glass

Champagne fluteAlso fine: Coupe glass, Wine glass

Garnish

Orange zest and maraschino cherrySpray the orange oil over the top, then add the cherry.

Taste & nutrition

13%ABV

135kcal

1.15Drinks

StrengthMedium

Sweet to dryOff-dry

Estimated from ingredient amounts and assumed ABVs — not a lab measurement.

Good to know

Chill your glass first for a colder, better-tasting drink.

History

Year1862

PlaceUSA

Created byPublished by Jerry Thomas

One of the oldest drinks in the book, the Champagne Cocktail dresses a bitters-soaked sugar cube with a little brandy, then tops it with Champagne. Its roots reach back to at least the mid-1800s, well before the first cocktail manuals were printed. Elegant and celebratory, it has always been a special-occasion pour. Modern versions happily use other brut sparkling wines.

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