Ginger Champagne

December 10, 2010 (Day 314) — Ginger Champagne

I always know it’s the holidays when the fridge in our garage is filled to the brim. With bottles of cheap champagne. Now see, while I espose that what you pay for is usually what you get in the cocktail world, I still go for André, the beer of champagne.

That sounds about right.

The reason behind this is simple: if you’re going to be mixing with champagne, you don’t really want to be dropping the ducats for a good champagne that you won’t really taste. If you’re buying champagne simply to sip, but the money down for a good one. If you’re mixing, it’s not nearly as important. Just one man’s opinion.

Ginger Champagne

2 thick slices of fresh ginger

2 oz vodka

Champagne

Place your slices of ginger in in a cocktail shaker with the vodka, then muddle with the bar spoon to bring out the ginger. Fill the shaker halfway with ice then shake well. Double-strain into a champagne flute and top with ice-cold champagne.

As always when making champagne-based cocktails, be careful when pouring. It’s easy for these things to bubble-over when there are extra ingredients in the drink. Think of putting sugar in champagne.  But how does it taste? Well, like any champagne based drink, the kind you use is going to drastically affect the flavor. We tend to prefer drier wines, such as brut or extra dry. The basic: it tastes like whatever type of sparkling white wine you chose, with a pleasant hint of ginger on the end of it. The vodka adds a nice little hit on the end, too.

Cheers!

— Mark