The Barbotage Cocktail

Made with sparkling wine, this drink is sort of like a Mimosa – but with more style

June has arrived! Which means there are plenty of celebrations afoot – weddings, anniversaries, graduations. Time to break out the bubbly.

And we have a cocktail for that! The Barbotage contains sparkling wine, but it’s also fortified with cognac (or brandy) and Grand Marnier. The result is festive flavor with a hint of orange.

Perfect for toasting. 

Recipe: The Barbotage Cocktail

This cocktail may have originated as a hangover cure (no one is sure about its origins). But we prefer to serve it as a predinner pleaser.

It combines sparkling wine with orange curaçao, so it reminds us of a Mimosa Cocktail (which mixes bubbly with OJ). But the Barbotage has more nuanced flavor.

You don’t need a pricey sparkling wine to make this – save your good champagne for sipping straight. For this drink, a bubbly in the $10 to $20 range should work fine (Spanish cava is a good choice).

This drink takes about 5 minutes to prepare and serves 1.

Ingredients

• ½ ounce cognac or brandy
• 1 to 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier (to taste; about 1½ teaspoons is just right for us)
• ~4 ounces chilled brut-style sparkling wine
• orange twist for garnish (optional)
  

Procedure 

1. Add the brandy and Grand Marnier to a champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine.
2. Add garnish, if desired, and serve.
   

Notes

• A lemon twist would also work as garnish for this drink. Or you could just skip the garnish entirely.
• We’ve become quite fond of stemless champagne flutes, so that’s what we use when we make this.
• Under European law, only sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region of northeastern France (and is bottled under certain conditions) can be sold as “champagne.” But there are plenty of other sparkling wines that are quite good – and they’d work in this drink.
• You do want to use a brut style (dry, not sweet) sparkling wine. Spanish cavas can be a good value. There’s also a lot of decent bubbly made in the US that is affordably priced. If in doubt, just tell your local wine merchant what you’re making, and ask for a recommendation.
• We use domestic brandy when we make this drink, but a French cognac would be wonderful.
• Grand Marnier is a premium orange curaçao. You could use a generic curaçao, but if you go that route, make sure it’s a good one – too many are overly sweet (and this drink shouldn’t be too sweet).
• Programming Note: It’s time for our annual Summer Sippin’ and Snarfin’ Series. During most of the year, we post one cocktail recipe a month. But come summer, we get hot and thirsty, so we post 2 or 3 cocktails each month (and some summer-appropriate food recipes in between). Enjoy.
  

Thought Bubbles

“Nice cocktail!” said Mrs. Kitchen Riffs. “This is a perfect start to our annual Summer Sippin’ and Snarfin’ Series.”

“Yup, I know this is your favorite time of year,” I said. “Guess girls just wanna have sun.”

“Showing off your sparkling personality today?” said Mrs K R. “Unfortunately, that joke was half a bubble off plumb.”

“Hey, I’m fizzing with creativity,” I said. “I won’t cava in to pressure!”

“And I won’t comment on your pour quality decisions,” said Mrs K R.

Well, that just burst my bubble.

You may also enjoy reading about:

Mimosa Cocktail

Classic Champagne Cocktail 

Bellini Cocktail

Aperol Spritz Cocktail 

Cockail Basics

Or check out the Index for more