Ingredients
The base
- 1 litresparkling apple juice
- well chilled
- or clear apple juice
- with sparkling water
The fruit
- 1apple, thinly sliced
- 1orange, sliced
- a handful of grapes, halved
- a few strawberries, sliced
- or whatever is good
The rest
- a large handful of mint
- juice of 2 lemons
- or limes
- 500 mlsparkling water
- well chilled
- sugar, only if needed
To serve
- wine flutes
- or tall glasses
- ice
- at a restaurant table
Directions
- Press the leaves between your hands. They should release their scent. Make it close to the serving time. Everything must be genuinely cold. Warm liquids foam over violently. Chill everything well beforehand. Wash all the fruit thoroughly.
- Wash it under cold running water. Dry it well before you slice it. Slice the fruit thinly and evenly. Thin slices look far better floating. Slice it about three millimetres. Toss the slices in lemon at once. That keeps them looking fresh. Use whatever fruit is good and ripe. Pick the mint leaves from the stems.
- Use the leaves rather than the stalks. Pick them all off individually. Wash and dry them all thoroughly. Press the leaves gently in your hands. They should smell strongly after. Put the fruit into a large jug. Add all the bruised mint to it. Layer them right through the jug.
- Squeeze the lemon juice over the fruit. Lemon stops the apple browning. Taste it and adjust from there. It should be genuinely clearly sharp.
- Press the fruit and mint gently. Use the back of a spoon to press. Press it two or three times only. Do not crush it to a pulp at all. Let it stand for twenty minutes. Do not add any of the fizz yet. Pour in the cold sparkling apple juice. Pour it slowly down the jug side. Top it up with cold sparkling water. Adjust the ratio to your taste. Stir it once with a long spoon.
- Lift the spoon from the bottom once. That single stir is quite enough. Taste it and adjust the balance. It should be sharp rather than sweet. Add more lemon if it is too sweet. Add sugar only if genuinely needed. Good apple juice needs no sugar.
- Taste before adding any at all. Serving it is done genuinely cold. Fill the flutes with ice if you like. Ice keeps it cold but dilutes it. Pour it out into tall wine flutes. Add a mint sprig to each glass. Spoon some fruit into each glass.
- Add a straw or else a long spoon. Serving it is always done at once. Serve it immediately while fizzy. The fizz fades within the hour. Pour it fresh into each glass. Do not make it far in advance. Add the fizz only when serving.
Technique
- This drink contains no alcohol at all — the name is entirely metaphorical, referring to the wine flutes it is served in and the celebratory occasion rather than to anything in the glass. Alcohol has been prohibited in the kingdom since 1952, comprehensively, covering sale and consumption; a whole category of alcohol-free celebration drinks exists as a result, made and poured with real care rather than as consolation drinks.
- Add the sparkling elements only at the very end and serve immediately: the fizz is much of the point and fades within the hour. Everything must also be genuinely cold, since warm liquids foam over violently and lose the fizz far faster.
- Bruise the mint by clapping the leaves once between your palms rather than chopping or shredding, which releases the oils gently — chopped mint clouds the drink, turns it dark and bitter, and sticks in the teeth.
Substitutions
- Clear apple juice topped with sparkling water stands in for sparkling apple juice; every restaurant makes it slightly differently, some with apple alone and others adding pomegranate or other juices, and all are genuinely made.
- Use whatever fruit is good — apple and orange are the standards, with grapes, berries and pomegranate seeds all common.
Variations
- Toss the sliced apple in lemon juice immediately, which stops it browning and sharpens the whole drink; apple juice alone is very sweet and the lemon balances it entirely.
- Press the fruit and mint only two or three times with the back of a spoon rather than crushing them: crushed fruit clouds the drink and crushed mint turns it bitter, and the drink should stay clear.
- Let the fruit and mint infuse the still juice for twenty minutes in the refrigerator before any fizz goes in — adding it early means it is flat before the drink is even served.
History
Alcohol-free celebration drink served in wine flutes; alcohol has been prohibited in the kingdom since 1952.
Frequently asked questions
What is Saudi champagne?
Saudi champagne is a cocktail from Saudi Arabia: sparkling apple juice with mint, lemon and sliced fruit, poured at restaurants. Alcohol-free celebration drink served in wine flutes; alcohol has been prohibited in the kingdom since 1952.
How long does Saudi champagne take to make?
Saudi champagne takes 15 minutes of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Saudi champagne?
Yes, within limits. Clear apple juice topped with sparkling water stands in for sparkling apple juice; every restaurant makes it slightly differently, some with apple alone and others adding pomegranate or other juices, and all are genuinely made. Use whatever fruit is good — apple and orange are the standards, with grapes, berries and pomegranate seeds all common.
What is the most important thing to get right in Saudi champagne?
Press the leaves between your hands. They should release their scent. Make it close to the serving time. Everything must be genuinely cold. Warm liquids foam over violently. Chill everything well beforehand. Wash all the fruit thoroughly.
