Champagne Cocktails

Champagne cocktails are a fun way to put an even more celebratory twist on the traditional glass of bubbly. From a Kentucky classic to an Italian-inspired sipper, here are 10 sparkling cocktails that will add a little extra pop to your Champagne glass.

Photo by Stuart Mullenberg

Drink of the Week: Bosteels DeuS Brut de Flanders

Planning to break out the bubbly this New Year’s Eve? You can’t go wrong with a classic bottle of Champagne, but if you’re looking to toast the occasion with a bubbly of a different sort, try today’s Drink of the Week—the DeuS Brut de Flanders from Belgium’s Bosteels brewery. Produced using the traditional methode champenoise, DeuS Brut de Flanders offers plenty of effervescence along with a vibrant acidity and a crisp, fruity finish.
$30/750 ml, napacabs.com

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

Think northern Italy only produces Pinot Grigio? Think again. Washington Post

Sales of wines at auction are expected to drop next year, meaning 2012 might be a good time to restock the cellar. Reuters

Large-format beers are primed for sharing this season. Wall Street Journal

10 sparkling cocktails to help you ring in the New Year. Imbibe

Zagat names the 10 coolest coffee shops in the U.S.—do you agree? Huffington Post

Small-production “grower” Champagnes aren’t just for special occasions. USA Today

Drink of the Week: Winter Julep

Between shopping for last-minute gifts, making multiple trips to the airport and prepping the house for holiday guests, you’re probably more than ready to kick back with a cocktail to celebrate the season. And today’s Drink of the Week—the Winter Julep from Atlanta bartender Lara Creasy—is just the drink for the job. Warm and wintry, this soothing combo of peppermint tea, bourbon and brown sugar is a cinch to whip up and includes ingredients you’re likely to have on hand. Which means less time mixing drinks and more time toasting the season with family and friends. From our Imbibe family to yours, we wish you the most spirituous holiday season. Cheers!

Click here for the recipe.

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

What it takes to keep a Bagdad bar stocked. The Atlantic

Forget the cookies—some households treat Santa to everything from bourbon to cranberry-spiked cocktails. Cooking Light

Still shopping for last minute holiday gifts? We’ve got ideas every imbiber will love. Imbibe

Kim Jong Il and his annual six-figure Cognac habit. Bon Appetit

A new kosher brew pops up just in time for Hanukkah. NPR

Drink of the Week: Podere San Giovanni Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2005

Looking for a well-priced go-to wine for the holidays? We recommend the 2005 Podere San Giovanni Vino Nobile di Montepulciano—perfect for any holiday occasion and available across the country. Straightforward and slightly rustic, with notes of ripe berry fruit and just a hint of dusty spice, this is the kind of wine that offers something for palates of all persuasions. A blend of 90% Sangiovese (the same grape used to make Chianti) with Italian-indigenous varietals Cannaiolo and Mammolo also added to the mix, we’ve sipped this second-label wine from Tuscany’s Corte alla Flora estate alongside everything from radicchio salad to lasagna and wood-fired pizza, and it holds its own with every bite.
$22, thewineshopbend.com

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

Four senators proposal to help save the postal service? Let them ship wine and beer. Huffington Post

Is Washington State’s move to privatize liquor fraught with unintentional consequences for craft distillers? Mynorthwest.com

Mourning the hiatus of NBC’s Community? One writer starts a movement to send the network gallons (and gallons) of Seven and Sevens. Good

A peek at who made Food Republic’s list of the most influential coffee people in the industry right now. Food Republic

Is Norway at the onset of a national butter shortage?? NPR

A beer specifically marketed toward women? No thanks. Baltimore Sun

Share in the Gift of Holiday Spirits

We're very excited to announce that starting today and through December 31, 2011, we'll be donating one dollar of every online subscription order to UNICEF. UNICEF if one of our favorite charitable organizations, and they do so much incredible humanitarian work around the world. So whether you're buying a gift or subscribing or renewing for yourself, you can feel good that with your purchase, you're sharing in the gift of holiday spirits. To buy a subscription, simply click here, and we'll take care of the rest. Cheers to you and happy holidays!

Drink of the Week: Batdorf & Bronson 2011 Holiday Blend

For a small window of time each winter, coffee roasters around the country release special holiday blends, and today’s Drink of the Week—Batdorf & Bronson’s Holiday Blend—is always among our favorites. Rich and earthy, yet with bright acidity throughout, this coffee delivers delicious notes of cocoa, caramel and Christmas spice. It’s perfect for brewing up at holiday gatherings, giving as a gift or just enjoying in the mornings for as long as it’s available. $16.95/lb., batdorfcoffee.com

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

What does your drink say about you? Gourmet Live

An Alaska man stuck in a snowdrift subsists on frozen cans of beer until help arrives several days later. ABC News

A small New York soda company toasts its 140th birthday. NPR

Did a scandal in the wine world force a longtime writer to leave his post? Thedrinksbusiness.com

A Grammy Award winner’s tour rider reveals some pretty particular imbibables. The Daily Mirror

One writer goes in search of obscure cocktail ingredients in order to mix up a few drinks at home. The New York Times

Drink(s) of the Week: 5 Ways to Toast Repeal Day

This Monday marks the 78th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, so for today’s Drink of the Week we’re marking the occasion with not one, but five cocktails to help you celebrate. From what American expats tippled during that era to a contemporary cocktail that wouldn’t exist if not for Prohibition’s repeal, here are five ways to toast your right to imbibe.

The Boulevardier
New York City barman Harry McElhone didn’t wait for Prohibition to hit before he crossed the Atlantic in favor of more cocktail-friendly climes. He eventually ended up in Paris where he mixed drinks for a number of expats, including bon vivant Erskine Gwynne whose magazine The Paris Boulevardier became the namesake of McElhone’s 1920s mix of bourbon, Campari and vermouth. Click here for the recipe.


El Presidente
During Prohibition, countless Americans fled to Cuba, and chances are a good many of them tipped back an El Presidente or two. Named for that country’s head of state from 1913 to 1921, this mix of white rum, French vermouth, orange Curacao and grenadine offers a commanding taste of the Caribbean. Click here for the recipe.

The Olympic
First mixed at Ciro’s of London in the 1920s, this sister cocktail of the better-known Sidecar is the namesake of a Titanic-sized ocean liner and offers equally seismic flavors with its mix of Cognac, orange juice and a spiced orange liqueur. Click here for the recipe. Photo: Stuart Mullenberg


Fallen Angel
Another lost cocktail of the Prohibition-era, this mix of gin, lime, Angostura and crème de menthe, first shone as the namesake to Noël Coward’s 1927 Broadway play and later found print in Harry Craddock’s 1930 cocktail tome, the Savoy Cocktail Book. Click here for the recipe.

Red Hook
Without the repeal of Prohibition we wouldn’t have gems like this 21st century Manhattan riff, which is well on its way to becoming a classic in its own right. Click here for the recipe. Photo: Stuart Mullenberg