Anyone can open a bottle of bubbly, but you can show off this New Year’s Eve with these easy, yet super impressive, sparkling wine cocktails.

The key to a great New Year’s Eve bash is the sparkling wine. While we colloquially refer to all bubbly as champagne, the truth of the matter is most of us are not drinking true champagne.

A few definitions

• Champagne – refers to sparkling wine grown, fermented, and bottled in Champagne, France. If you are drinking anything else, it’s best to call it a sparkling wine to be technically correct.
• Prosecco – Prosecco used to be called the poor man’s Champagne; it’s actually a sparkling wine from Italy.
• Cava – Cava is delicious sparkling wine from Spain.

While you will find other sparkling wines in any good liquor store, these are the three main region specific sparkling wines. Everything else in the package store will be called sparkling wine. Just as if you were drinking it on its own, it does matter what kind of sparkling wine you use for cocktails. The best bet is to go to a good wine store and tell the staff what your plans are. They will be able to tell you what will taste best in your price range.

Now that you understand the basics, here are the cocktails.

7 Sparkling Wine Cocktails

1. French 75 – Made with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and Brut Champagne, this cocktail can be served in either a Collins glass or a Champagne flute/coupe. It has a little bit of a kick.
2. Black Velvet – This dramatic looking cocktail is made with stout (usually Guinness) and sparkling wine. Fill a glass halfway with wine and top off with the stout.
3. Kir Royale – A deliciously sweet concoction made with sparkling wine topped with crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur).
4. St. Germaine Spritzer – St. Germaine is a subtle elderflower liqueur. It pairs well with sparkling wine, club soda, and a lemon twist in this recipe for a lighter cocktail.
5. Prosecco Sangria – We love the idea of making a New Year’s Eve Sangria for guests. This recipe calls for the addition of stone fruits and peach brandy, but you could vary the fruits and brandy depending on your tastes. Champagne Cocktail
6. Chambord and Champagne – For a twist on the Kir Royale, try adding Chambord instead. Chambord is a sweet black raspberry liqueur.
7. Sparkling Margarita – Mix up a pitcher of these sparkling wine margaritas from chef Rick Bayless for a real party on New Year’s.

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Sherry wine is having a moment. There’s something alluring about its rich gold color that makes it perfect for pretty cocktails all year round.

This sweet fortified wine from Spain fell out of fashion briefly in favor of brighter younger wines like Rose and Beaujolais, but it’s back! Sherry is often served after a meal or to compliment dessert. For this sophisticated cocktail it’s mixed with fresh persimmon puree and elderflower liquor. Persimmons arrive in early fall but can be found year round in Asian markets. You want to use the smaller firmer Fuyu variety because they are less sweet than the softer Hachiya variety which are better for baking.

With its deep orange color, this drink makes a perfect fall drink to serve just before a hearty meal of roasted vegetables and meat.

Sherry has a higher alcohol content than wine and the flavor of light sherry is often woody and tangy. The most common types of sherry in North America are Fino, Manzanilla and Amontillado. Manzanilla sherry is very light and often not very expensive. If you’re looking for something to drink casually and something that’s great in cocktails try a label called “Solear” or ask your local wine merchant for a recommendation. Think of this cocktail as a gateway to a new love affair with this golden Spanish wine.

Sherry Wine Cocktail Recipe with Elderflower and Persimmon Puree

Makes 6 cocktails

Ingredients
12 ounces Manzanilla sherry
6 ounces St. Germain elderflower liquor
2 lemons
Angostura bitters
1 whole Fuyu persimmon

Directions
Peel and chop the persimmon into small piece. Puree in a food processor or blender with a splash of water.

Carefully peel 6 thin slices of lemon skin for the garnish then squeeze the juice from the lemons and set aside.

Measure out 2 ounces sherry, 1 teaspoon persimmon puree and 1 ounce of St. Germain into a cocktail shaker with ice. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice and a dash of bitters, shake vigorously.

Pour into a cocktail glass without ice and serve immediately with a lemon garnish.

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Skip the spooky green punch and go for something refreshing and elegant like this Halloween cocktail recipe with grapefruit juice and fresh blackberries. 

Since it IS practically Halloween, get into the spirit by adding fresh blackberry compote or “guts” into the flesh-colored mixture of grapefruit, gin and club soda. While your guests are consuming handfuls of Halloween candy this drink will offer a cooling respite.

The gin fizz is a classic cocktail usually made with carbonated water and lemon juice. An egg white is often added to make a silver fizz which I would highly recommend ordering the next time you find yourself in a classic cocktail bar. After years of feeling disgust at the thought of an egg in my drink I had a Pisco Sour that changed my life. Egg whites add a frothy layer to acidic cocktails so don’t be afraid of them…plus an egg white has protein to offset the alcohol.

The addition of muddled blackberries to a gin fizz makes for an interesting turn. I make this cocktail with fresh squeezed grapefruit juice to ensure that it isn’t too sweet. You can substitute the fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice for store-bought juice if necessary. The blackberry pulp has a beautiful dark purple color which looks creepy in the flesh-colored liquid of the grapefruit juice and liquor. Tell your guests they are drinking “guts” and they may roll their eyes but will be pleasantly surprised by this fizzy and not-too-sweet treat.

Grapefruit Gin Fizz with Blackberry “Guts”

Makes 6 cocktails (recipe is easily doubled)

Ingredients

6 ounces gin, such as Tanqueray or Beefeater
1 cup blackberries
1 teaspoon honey
3 ounces club soda
1 large grapefruit
12 large ice cubes

Directions

1. Slice the grapefruit in half and use a juicer to extract the juice.

2. In a small bowl use a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon to smash the blackberries into a pulp. Add the honey and mix thoroughly.

3. In each individual glass place two ice cubes and pour in 1 ounce each of grapefruit juice and gin and just a ½ oz or splash of club soda. Stir for a few seconds with a long spoon and then delicately add about a teaspoon of the blackberry mixture and serve.

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The first time I saw cardamom bitters on a cocktail menu I was ecstatic. The second time I was amused. The third time I thought to myself, “wait, I should be able to make that.”

Bitters are one of those things that may come off as complicated but are actually relatively simple to make; brewing bitters is really just steeping spices in high-proof alcohol. You have to get the ratios right, and sometimes the ingredients can be a little complex, but the end result is creative and classy, and you turn yourself into a bit of a cocktail connoisseur.

Although we think of them as cocktail necessities, bitters go back to the times when certain alcohols were marketed as medicines. Angostura bitters, one of the most popular brands of bitters, was first made in Venezuela by a German physician and used as a cure for sea sickness and stomach issues. Since then bitters have obviously gone on to bigger and brighter things.

Once a staple in the at home bar, bitters fell off the radar for a while, but are back with a vengeance with the resurgence in classic cocktails, like Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. Instead of buying your own bitters, make your own. This allows for a bit of creativity, so you really can start bottling your cardamom/fennel infusion and making your own cocktail recipes out of it. Here are some basics to making your own bitters.

Choose a high-proof alcohol

Depending on which bitter recipe you refer to, you will find anything from Everclear to rum to vodka to bourbon. It all depends on what type of a taste you are going for.

Allow for time

Because you are steeping ingredients, you will not make bitters overnight. Depending on the recipe, you will need to let the ingredients sit for about a week to 25 days.

Source good ingredients

If you use old spices, you won’t get the same results. Make sure you select high quality roots, herbs, and spices to play with. When else do you have the chance to mess around with ingredients like wormwood and quassia bark?

Have jars on hand

When letting your bitters sit and infuse, they will need to be in sealable jars. In other words, make sure you have some mason jars on hand.

Go beyond the cocktail

Bitters don’t have to be reserved for the cocktail glass. You can also use them in cooking, salad dressings and more. Get creative!

Recipes to start with

• Grapefruit bitters are so easy that you will be hard pressed to buy them again.
• Basic aromatic bitters are a good start for anyone looking to build up their home bar.
• Jacob Grier’s recipe for coffee bitters is a must-have, and you get to choose which coffee you use (don’t skimp on the quality of course).
• Hellfire bitters if you’re in the mood to make a bitter with chili and espresso beans and end up with one intense cocktail.
• Cocoa bitters if you are a chocolate fiend.

Image: _gee_

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