Champagne, the delight of the aristocracy, signatory in celebration, and often the ultimate inducer of morning-after headaches. I’m no champagne connoisseur, but I know it to be a tasty tipple, often subtly sweet, and always with the beautiful bubbles which tingle over the lips and past the tongue, and effervescing through the nose, adding texture to taste.
I have to say I am in utter agreement with Trader Vic in his assessment of Champagne, in the “Colonel’s Big Opu” drink recipe:
You may have gathered by now that I like Champagne. Incidentally, it’s my favorite nightcap, preferably after I’m already in bed – to hell with that hot milk stuff!
Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drink, p. 120-121
I’m a huge fan of the stuff straight (I drowned in the new year of 2007 with 3 bottles of Mumm’s… a great start!), but it goes without saying it’s great in a mixed drink. Kir Royale, Champagne Cocktail, Mimosa… you can find plenty of recipes on CocktailDB. Champagne was even the featured ingredient at the Tales of the Cocktail 2007 cocktail competition. It’s a fantastic ingredient that goes well in just about everything. I was once at a pizza joint in San Francisco that had a rather creative Champagne cocktail menu which consisted of Champagne + half of something from the Thomas Kemper craft soda variety pack + candied ginger at the bottom, all with various fun names. I picked the Rock Star cocktail (Champagne, cream soda). Cheesy and cloying, but it was one of those kind of nights, and the pizza made up for it.
Champagne is the alcohol of choice in the Bali Hai cocktail (p.82 Sippin’ Safari). This is a rather sweet but swell drink which calls for Rum, Champagne, and Hanalei house mix. The house mix is a nice contrast of citrus and syrup, with the Orgeat present and playing well with the other ingredients. The house mix is also used in the Hanalei Rum Punch, which is another fantastic drink with Banana puree, which adds an interesting but nice texture.
Of course, now that I’ve posted about Champagne, and the Colonel’s Big Opu, I’ve absolutely got to have one for lunch. Trouble is, I’m all out of Champagne!
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