Over the Christmas and New Year period we welcome six guest posts from cocktail columnist, London bar reviewer & blogger The Barfly. His festive series began with Mulled Wine, moved on to classic Eggnog, and now The Champagne Cocktail…
Congratulations to my host at The Daily Constitutional on reaching 4,000 blog posts today! The champagne cocktail is the perfect drink for the occasion…
In the party scene at the top of The Godfather Part Two, old school mobster Frank Pentangeli rolls wildly through the party sinister respectability of the Corleone family’s new life in Nevada, a relic from the New York Italian immigrant past. The specter at the feast, he complains that the band has no Italian musicians; the food is small and unappetizing (“Canapes? Can o’ Peas? It’s a Ritz cracker and chopped liver!”); and he certainly does NOT approve of the drinks.
“Wha’ we drinkin’?” he spits with disdain, “Wha’ we drinkin’, huh? Champagne cocktails?”
Now I'm with you MOST of the way, Frankie Five Angels, I'm all for the traditional side of things, too… but I also have a terrible weakness for a hoity-toity, fancy pants drinkie. So I'm going to have to part company with you on the doing-down of the Champagne Cocktail.
From the elegant simplicity of its name to the gentle Jekyll and Hyde potion effect of the sugar cube reacting with the bubbles, we just can’t get enough of this one.
You will need:
Champagne
1 Sugar Cube
4 dashes Angostura Bitters
Orange peel
¾ Shot cognac
Method:
Rub the sugar cube with the orange peel
Drop the cube into a champagne flute
Douse it with four drops Angostura
Immerse it in cognac (just enough to cover the cube)
Top up with champagne
Garnish with a maraschino cherry. In such a festival of a cocktail, a cherry is, of course, totally unnecessary. Unnecessary but quite beautiful, the cocktail equivalent of a fascinator hat at Ascot.
Cheers!
The Barfly will return in time for New Year's Eve with his instructions for a French 75.
Christmas 2015 With London Walks
The Amazing Old Shops Walk takes place on the 19th December – meet Judy at Green Park Station at 10:45a.mThe Christmas Lights & Seasonal Cheer Pub Walk takes place on the 19th December meet at Embankment Tube 7:15p.m
On Christmas Day there are TWO London Walks:
Walk up an appetite with The Christmas Morning 1660 Walk – meet at 11:00a.m by the big tree in Trafalgar SquareWalk off the pudding with The Christmas Day Charles Dickens Walk – meet by the big tree in Trafalgar Square at 2:00pm
A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
