Mimosa

Ingredients

Drink

• 75 mlChampagne or dry sparkling wine, very cold
• 75 mlfresh orange juice, very cold

Optional

• 10 mlGrand Marnier or Cointreau

Garnish

• a strip of orange peel

Directions

1. It is equal parts, which is what separates a mimosa from a Buck’s Fizz, where the ratio is two parts wine to one of juice.
2. Squeeze the oranges the same morning and strain the juice.
3. Fresh juice is most of the drink. Long-life carton juice is cooked-tasting and flat, and there are only two ingredients here.
4. Strain out the pulp, which otherwise clouds the drink and kills the bubbles.
5. Chill everything hard: the wine, the juice and the glasses.
6. Warm juice knocks the fizz straight out of the wine, and a lukewarm mimosa goes flat within a minute.
7. Use a dry sparkling wine, brut rather than sweet, because the juice already brings plenty of sugar.
8. Pour the orange juice into the flute first.
9. Juice first, wine second. Poured the other way round the wine foams up over the rim and you lose it.
10. Add the Champagne slowly, tilting the glass, letting the foam settle before topping up.
11. Do not stir it. The pour mixes it well enough and a spoon simply drives out the bubbles.
12. Add the Grand Marnier now if you want it, which many bars do.
13. Twist a strip of orange peel over the surface and drop it in.
14. Serve immediately, because it goes flat faster than almost any other drink.
15. Make it one glass at a time rather than mixing a jug, for the same reason.
16. It is attributed to the Hôtel Ritz Paris around 1925 and named for the yellow mimosa blossom, which is the colour it comes out.
17. Buck’s Fizz was created at the Buck’s Club in London a few years earlier, in 1921, and the two drinks are often conflated.

Technique

• Save the good Champagne; a decent cava or crémant is a better use of money here.
• Blood orange makes a striking version in winter.
• It is brunch drinking almost everywhere it is served.

Substitutions

• Cava, crémant or prosecco in place of Champagne.
• Any good fresh citrus juice.

Variations

• Buck’s Fizz, with twice as much wine as juice.
• With blood orange, grapefruit or peach purée.
• Non-alcoholic, with sparkling water or alcohol-free fizz.

History

Attributed to the Hôtel Ritz Paris around 1925 and named for the yellow mimosa blossom.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mimosa?

Mimosa is a cocktail from France: equal champagne and chilled orange juice in a flute. Attributed to the Hôtel Ritz Paris around 1925 and named for the yellow mimosa blossom.

How long does Mimosa take to make?

Mimosa takes 3 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 1 drink. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mimosa?

Yes, within limits. Cava, crémant or prosecco in place of Champagne. Any good fresh citrus juice.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mimosa?

Strain out the pulp, which otherwise clouds the drink and kills the bubbles.