Thirsty Thursday: The Champagne Cocktail

Hello Vintage-istas!

We're back after an unplanned two-week hiatus. Sometimes, life has a way of moving incredibly slow for perceived periods of eternity and then suddenly piling a lifetime's worth of obligations on you over the period of a week! Well, back to the cocktails! For this Thirsty Thursday installment, we're concluding out champagne series with perhaps the oldest and simplest of champagne-inspired mixes: The Champagne Cocktail.

The "Champagne Cocktail" likely originated in the 19th century and largely has gone unchanged since. After all, it is difficult (and unnecessary) to alter something so simple as the Champagne Cocktail! Since then, it has made many pop culture appearances, including Casablanca! Here are our ingredients:

• 1 cube sugar
• 2 dashes Bitters
• Champagne or sparkling wine
• Lemon twist for garnish

Preparation: In a champagne flute, soak sugar cube in bitters and allow a moment to dissolve. Next, top off glass with chilled champagne or sparkling wine, garnish with a lemon twist, and enjoy!

Recommended accompaniment:

To accompany this drink, we recommend a tune straight from the film Casablanca to put you in the mood: "As Time Goes By," recorded here by Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole.

Until next drink!

Jerron J.

Thirsty Thursday: The Brandy Fizz

Hello Vintage-istas!

Since we cracked open a bottle of sparkling wine last week for our Thirsty Thirsday, we decided we would do a whole series of champagne-inclusive cocktails to use up the rest of the bottle! This week, we're going to take a look at a slightly modernized (and more alcoholic!) take on the classic Brandy Fizz:

 
A "Fizz" is a family of cocktails containing a spirit, some kind of citric juice, and-you guessed it-something carbonated. Typically, Fizz cocktails contain club soda or seltzer, but we here at The Vintage Chanteuse prefer to substitute champagne or sparkling wine as a way of giving a classic cocktail a contemporary kick! We first stumbled upon this recipe listed as a "Cognac Fizz" in Here's How: The Home Bartender's Mixing Guide, a small booklet printed by the Schieffelin & Co. liquor importing company in the 1940s. Let's take a look at our Brandy Fizz's ingredients:

• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 sugar cube
• 1.5 oz brandy or cognac
• Sparkling wine to top off
• Lime twist for garnish

Preparation:

In a cocktail shaker, pour lime juice and brandy over sugar cube and allow to dissolve (if you grow impatient, you may gently muddle to encourage the process to speed up). Next, add ice and shake well until ice crystals begin to form around exterior of shaker.

Then, strain into a highball glass, top with sparkling wine, garnish with a lemon twist, and enjoy responsibly!

Recommended accompaniment:

Our version of the Cognac Fizz is steeped in Francophilia (ignoring that we used brandy instead of cognac and sparkling wine instead of champagne!), so we recommend you accompany your fizz with Paris Combo's "Fibre de Verre." Paris Combo is a contemporary Parisian ensemble blending classic French styles with American jazz and swing, amongst many others and is sure to compliment your fizz perfectly!

Until next drink!

Jerron J.