Colourful Champagne Cocktails

Colourful Champagne Cocktails

Only two weeks until Christmas, the party season is in full swing and the cocktails are flowing! So we thought a champagne cocktail post would be rather appropriate.

champagne-raspberry-bellini

 Champagne & raspberry-bellini

Few would disagree that the best drink on the planet is champagne. After all, it's the go-to drink for any celebration or event, especially weddings. And a free-flowing champagne drinks reception never fails to impress your guests.

But sometimes you'll want to show some creative flair and spice it up a little, to personalise the celebration and put your own stamp on the day. Colourful champagne cocktails are an extremely simple yet effective way of making a subtle impact on your guests that they are likely to fondly remember for years to come. There are dozens of champagne cocktail recipes you might consider. From the classic, tried and tested to the ultra modern and rather obscure.

Hibiscus champagne cocktail

 Hibiscus champagne cocktail

Clearly you need to decide whether to mix with spirits and liqueurs, bar syrups or keep it sweet and simple and only use fruit puree. We would however advise you stick with fruit puree for the drinks reception and only bring out the hard stuff towards the end of the evening.

Champagne cocktails are so easy to colour coordinate to match your wedding colour scheme too, especially if it's a shade of purple, red, pink, orange, yellow, green or even blue.

Bellini's are among the best known champagne cocktails. Typically they are made with peach but mango, apricot and lychee also work perfectly.

Mango bellini champagne cocktail


 Mango bellini champagne cocktail

Alternatively, for the more creative among you might want to consider blending cherry, blackberry, pineapple, pomegranate, kiwi, passion fruit, cranberry or blueberry, on their own or together in a pair. There are numerous recipes below. All can be imaginatively modified according to your own requirements. And if you find your chosen fruit is a little bland, you can always complement it with a bar syrup. There are loads to choose from, from banana to mandarin or even papaya. Cocktails of the World website have a great list, for your convenience the link is here: http://www.cocktailsoftheworld.com

Bellini

1 medium ripe, peeled and pureed peach 4 - 6 oz Champagne: Pour peach puree into glass and slowly add champagne. Stir gently. Garnish with a peach slice.

Mango Bellini

1 part mango juice 2 parts Champagne 1 slice mango: Fill a champagne flute one-third full with mango juice. Top with champagne and stir gently. Garnish with a slice of mango.

Alternative Fruit Bellini

Simply modify mango recipe above according to your preferred fruit. Remember to taste test before opting for an obscure fruit. It might be that you need to jazz it up with a bar syrrup

Champagne Cobbler

1 slice orange 1 lemon wedge 1 fresh, skinless pineapple wedge 3/4 oz maraschino liqueur 4 oz Champagne: Muddle the fruit and maraschino in the bottom of a bar glass. Add ice and champagne, stir gently and strain into a champagne flute. Garnish with flamed orange peel, and serve.

Bellini #2

6 oz Champagne 1 oz peach schnapps: Mix ingredients and serve.

Bellini Cocktail

2 oz peach nectar 1 tsp freshlemon juice 1 oz peach schnapps 3 oz chilled, dry Champagne 1/2 cup crushed ice: Mix the peach nectar, lemon juice and schnapps in a chilled glass. Add half a cup (or more) of crushed ice, stir, and add the champagne. (Serves 2). May be prepared in a blender to produce a frozen drink.

Bombay Bellini

1 splash mango nectar 4 - 6 oz Champagne: Pour mango puree into a champagne flute (recommended) or a glass and slowly add champagne. Stir gently. Garnish with a mango slice.

Champagne mint lime cocktail

 Champagne, mint and lime cocktail

Buck's Fizz

The old wedding favourite... 4 oz Champagne 2 oz orange juice 1 tsp grenadine syrup: Mix and serve.

Champagne Martini

2 parts Champagne 1 part Cointreau® orange liqueur: Mix and serve.

Diamond Fizz

2 oz gin juice of 1/2 lemons 1 tsp powdered sugar chilled Champagne: Shake gin, juice of lemon, and powdered sugar with ice and strain into a highball glass over two ice cubes. Fill with chilled champagne, stir, and serve.

French 68

1/4 oz brandy 3/4 oz Calvados® brandy 1 dash grenadine syrup 1 dash sugar syrup 1/4 oz lemon juice 4 oz Champagne: Shake all ingredients (except champagne) well over ice cubes in a shaker. Strain into a champagne flute, slowly fill with champagne, and serve.

French 75

1 1/2 oz gin 2 tsp superfine sugar 1 1/2 oz lemon juice 4 oz chilled Champagne 1 slice orange 1 maraschino cherry: In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the gin, sugar, and lemon juice. Shake well. Pour into a collins glass. Top with the champagne. Stir well and garnish with the orange slice and the cherry.

French 75 (Cognac)

1 1/2 oz cognac 1 oz lemon juice 1 tsp sugar 6 oz Champagne: Combine cognac, sugar and lemon juice in shaker. Add ice and shake till chilled. Pour into champagne flute. Pour champagne over cognac concoction. Garnish with lemon curl.

French 76

3/4 oz vodka 1 dash grenadine syrup 1 dash sugar syrup 1/4 oz lemon juice 4 oz Champagne: Shake all ingredients (except champagne) well over ice cubes in a shaker. Strain into a champagne flute, fill with champagne, and serve.

French 95

3/4 oz bourbon whiskey 3/4 oz simple syrup 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice 1 oz fresh orange juice Champagne: Shake all ingredients (except champagne) with ice and strain into an ice-filled goblet. Top with champagne, and serve.

Alternative Martini

1 splash dry vermouth 4 oz vodka 3 oz chilled Champagne 1 dash maraschino liqueur: Coat the inside of a chilled cocktail glass with dry vermouth. In a mixing glass filled half way with crushed ice, combine vodka, champagne and maraschino liqueur. Stir and strain into the cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive and a maraschino cherry on a cocktail skewer.

Ritz Fizz

1 dash Blue Curacao liqueur 1 dash amaretto almond liqueur 1 dash lemon juice Champagne: Pour blue curacao, amaretto and lemon juice into a champagne flute filled with champagne. Stir, add a twist of lemon, and serve.

Texas Fizz

4 oz Champagne 1 oz gin 1 oz orange juice 1/4 oz grenadine syrup: Shake gin, orange juice and grenadine and strain into a highball glass three-quarters filled with broken ice. Add champagne, garnish with a slice of orange, and serve. (Recipes courtesy of www.drinksmixer.com)