Mimosa, a spring cocktail based on Champagne. Add some bright festivity to your life!
The word mimosa sounds very springy, beautiful and tasty at the same time. It applies to both a flowering tree and a fresh, sour citrus wine-based cocktail. Mimosa is always bright yellow, warm, sunny. A true embodiment of spring, rebirth and great mood, something new and beautiful in life. So why don't we celebrate any new beginnings with this spring cocktail? It is easy to make; it tastes soft and festive; it is low in alcohol (you end up with only 6%). The cocktail is amazingly refreshing and invigorating.
For a Mimosa cocktail, you need only champagne (or other sparkling wine) and freshly squeezed orange juice. Despite its simplicity, the cocktail is ranked among the official cocktails of the International Bartenders Association as a fizz (a cocktail based on sour juice and a sparkling drink) cocktail in the Contemporary Classic category.
How to make a Mimosa cocktail
The advantages of the drink are a pleasant fresh slightly sour taste, availability and a small number of necessary ingredients and ease of preparation even at home. The cocktail recipe is very simple. You need freshly squeezed orange juice and white sparkling wine.
Sparkling wine should be chilled. Oranges should also be chilled. Leave them in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. And only then squeeze the juice out. Juice from one large orange is usually enough for two glasses. It is best to use freshly squeezed orange juice. A cocktail is created using the build method, that is, directly in the serving container. It is best to use champagne glasses to serve Mimosa, but you can use any of cute wine glasses or your choice!
Required ingredients for 1 serving:
- White Champagne (Brut) or other white sparkling wine (3 oz / 90 ml)
- Freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oz / 90 ml)
- Orange peel or orange slices (1 piece)
Equipment:
- Glass for sparkling wine
- Measuring cup
- Cocktail spoon
- Peel knife
Directions:
- Chill the champagne glasses a bit.
- Pour orange juice into a glass.
- Add sparkling wine to the same glass
- Stir gently with a cocktail spoon.
- If you feel like it, you can garnish the glass with orange zest or a slice of fresh orange.
- Serve immediately while the cocktail is cold.
- Enjoy its pleasant, citrusy flavor.
What sparkling wine to choose?
Champagne is considered a classic and invariably helps to create a festive mood. So if the budget and the reason allow you to use this drink, then it will be that very original aristocratic cocktail. If you are not going to impress your guests with a bottle of a special cuvée of champagne placed next to the glass, then it is not necessary to choose an expensive and exclusive one. After all, you will be mixing it with orange juice. So if you have a bottle of vintage champagne, save it for a wine tasting to appreciate the beauty of this cuvée and capture all the magnificence of its unique aromas. For a Mimosa cocktail, a basic range of any champagne brand is suitable, because orange juice is quite intense and easily overshadows some of the aromas and tastes of champagne. It's not bad at all. We expect this mixed taste from a cocktail: citrusy bright spring aromatics and sophisticated elegant bubbles on the palette. Feel free to take white brut of any producer. Sweet champagne will take some of the freshness out of your cocktail, so choose a dry one.
As an alternative to champagne, other sparkling wines can be used for this cocktail. For example, the beloved by many Italian Prosecco. The country of origin is not that important. The main thing is to take white dry sparkling wine. Focus on the availability of sparkling wine. Of course, do not forget that the better the alcohol, the tastier the cocktail will be.
Different interpretations of a Mimosa cocktail
The recipe above is a classic Mimosa cocktail. Of course, over the hundred-year history of its existence, other interpretations of this drink have appeared. For example, you can often change the base and use different juices. There are grapefruit mimosa, cherry mimosa and others, which are not inferior in taste to the orange classics. Sometimes a few more drops of orange-flavored liquor - "Triple Sec" are added to the cocktail. If you have frozen berries or fruits on hand (raspberries, strawberries, pineapple, lemon, etc.), you can add them to your cocktail glass. This will slightly cool the drink and make its appearance more interesting.
There is also a non-alcoholic version of the Mimosa cocktail. Just swap sparkling wine for tonic or any clear carbonated beverage. You can safely serve such a cocktail to children, pregnant women, friends who are driving or do not drink alcohol. This way everyone will get their portion of the spring fresh cocktail and be happy with your event or brunch.
History
The Mimosa cocktail was invented at the London gentlemen’s Buck's Club in 1921. The idea belongs to the bartender of this establishment Pat McGarry, who served there for more than 20 years. He mixed orange juice and dry champagne by accident. At one of the parties, a Buck's Club visitor asked for an Italian Bellini cocktail, but the bartender did not have white peaches on hand. Then, as an alternative, McGarry used orange juice and added a small amount of gin and pomegranate liqueur (according to another version a cherry liqueur). Thus a new sparkling drink with a pleasant taste and aroma was created. It was originally called "Buck's Fizz". You can still find a drink with this name at some places. Gin and liqueur soon disappeared from the recipe, and the cocktail became easier to prepare but tasted just as well. If you are offered a cocktail called "Buck's Fizz", then know that it will contain ⅔ champagne and ⅓ orange juice. In Mimosa, the content of sparkling wine and juice is the same.
A very similar cocktail called Mimosa appeared in Paris a year later after London, but with a higher content of orange juice. This name was given because of its bright yellow color, which resembles a flower famous especially in France - yellow mimosa. Both London and Parisian aristocrats loved to consume this cocktail at breakfast. It is a good excuse to start drinking alcohol in the morning, mixing champagne with a traditional for breakfast orange juice.
By the way, some people believe that this cocktail based on orange juice and sparkling wine has become so popular for breakfast because, in addition to its fresh and pleasant taste, it also has an anti-hangover effect.
Both cocktails are very often served at weddings or special occasions as a less alcoholic alternative to champagne. Mimosa has also become a symbol of a Christmas festive breakfast or brunch.
Blooming mimosa
The Mimosa cocktail is actually named after a tree blooming in winter! It is not a mimosa, but a silvery acacia in terms of science. We will not go into the details and confusion of botany, however people from all over the world are used to call a tree with bright yellow fluffy flowers mimosa. It comes from Australia. Therefore, the flowering of this tree begins in the middle of winter, because in the southern hemisphere at this time it is summer. In cooler climates, mimosa flowers in March. Therefore, it is familiar to many as a symbol of spring and the sun. Mimosa has a very pleasant and intense smell. If you do not have allergies, then the bright yellow bouquet will be a wonderful fragrant decoration for your home. Silver acacia grows on the southeast coast of Australia, southern Europe, South Africa, the western United States, the Azores and Madagascar. The French Riviera hosts mimosa festivals every year. Perfumers did not pass this smell by their attention either. The delicate aroma of mimosa is included in the scent of many famous perfumes.