Master of Cocktails Champagne Cocktail

An incredibly simple drink this week, which is so often fucked right up by one stupid ‘ritual’. Sugar Cubes. I saw a cocktail this week from some place in London which they’re claiming is the world’s most expensive (at £8888) and from the looks of it, even at nearly £10k, you get a load of idiotic sugar-sludge in the bottom of your glass.

Using a sugar cube instead of sugar syrup not only makes a nonsense of the ‘as served’ concentration of sugar as more and more will dissolve as the drink is consumed, but even worse, it provides hundreds upon hundreds of nucleation points (the sugar granules), which are pretty much guaranteed to knock all the fizz out of champagne. Not exactly ideal for a Champagne Cocktail recipe, eh? So, for that reason we’re going to be using sugar syrup like a non-mental person.

Master of Cocktails Ingredients

You’ll be needing these…

List of Ingredients

  • 25ml Hine Rare VSOP Cognac
  • 5ml Sugar Syrup
  • 2 good shakes Angostura Bitters
  • 125ml or so (good) Champagne e.g. Pol Roger Brut Réserve
  • So – to begin, we’re going to take a measure (25ml) of Hine Rare VSOP.

    Master of Cocktails Champagne Cocktail

    Now add 5ml Sugar Syrup. This is easier if you top up to 30ml, rather than try and measure 5.

    Master of Cocktails Champagne Cocktail

    Tip that into a Cocktail glass (not a Champagne Flute, as Champagne Flutes are the devil).

    Master of Cocktails Champagne Cocktail

    Next up, 2 good shakes of Angostura Bitters.

    Master of Cocktails Champagne Cocktail

    Now grab a bottle of (good) Champagne – I’m using Pol Roger, it goes beautifully with the Hine – and top the glass off (about 125ml or so).

    Master of Cocktails Champagne Cocktail

    Finally, express a strip of orange peel over the glass, and discard.

    Master of Cocktails Champagne Cocktail

    And serve. The Champagne cocktail.

    Master of Cocktails Champagne Cocktail

    Enjoy!

    #6secondcocktails

    When it’s done correctly, with proper ingredients, this is an absolute belter of a drink when made with crap ingredients, it’s bloody awful. Fairly warned.

    Here’s what we’ll be using for the next #MasterofCocktails, which you can follow on twitter from 6pm on Sunday night or find here on the blog next Monday. This one’s not to be missed!

    Master of Cocktails Ingredients

    Next week you’ll be needing these…
    Rumbullion!, Butter, Muscovado Sugar and Lecithin powder.

    Ben