#299 Cocktail: Tbilisi Royale

     Really elegant cocktail and very easy to make. You don't need any special bartender tools, just build it in the glass
     The drink is adapted from a recipe from the FireBired Russian Restaurant in New York. Who created the cocktail and when, that will remain a mistery.....at least for me

1/4 ounce Stolichnaya Limonnaya

1/2 ounce peach schnapps

chilled champagne

#285 Cocktail: Tsar's Champagne

   The recipe was submitted by pioneer spirits writer Herb Silverman who said that he heard of it from a Russian in 1945 and that it was supposedly the favorite drink if the tsars of Russia.
    Even if it sounds that will blow your head off, it's not that bad when you drink it. I might have to see what happens later.

2 ounces chilled vodka

3 1/2 ounce chilled champagne

#256 Cocktail: Seelbach

      "For the last 20 years, if you were in the bar business and knew one thing about the bartender Adam Seger, it was that he was the man behind the Seelbach cocktail.
      The Seelbach is named after the Seelbach Hotel (today the Seelbach Hilton), a storied century-old lodging in downtown Louisville, Ky., that is mentioned briefly in “The Great Gatsby.” Shortly after being put in charge of the hotel’s bar and restaurant operations in 1995, Mr. Seger declared that he had discovered a recipe for a pre-Prohibition cocktail that was once the hotel’s signature drink. He tested it, liked it and put it on the menu.
        After two decades of yarn-spinning, Mr. Seger, 47, who left the hotel in 2001 and recently helped open the Tuck Room in downtown Manhattan, has decided to come clean that he concocted not only the drink but also the story behind it."

The New York Times

        The cocktail is beautifully delicious!!! The adding of the Cointreau gives a really nice orange flavor and the bourbon compliments it with a nice sweeteness. One of the most delicious champagne cocktails I ever had

 3/4 ounce bourbon

1/2 ounce triple sec

7 dashes Angostura bitters

7 dashes Peychaud's bitters

8 ounces Champagne

#242 Cocktail: Ritz of New York

   This cocktail was invented by the famous Dale de Groff, also known as the King of Cocktails or King Cocktail
   The New York Times in 2015 called DeGroff "one of the world’s foremost cocktail experts", and wrote that his book "The Craft of the Cocktail" is considered an essential bartending reference. From 1987 to 1999 DeGroff rose to prominence in the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center in New York City. He is the founding president of the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans, and a partner and consultant in the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) group.

1 ounce cognac

1/2 ounce triple sec

2 dashes maraschino liqueur

1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

chilled dry champagne

#224 Cocktail: Pierce Brosnan

   The original cocktail was created by Salvatore Calabrese for the actor Pierce Brosnan ( so by this we explained the name too) at the Lanesborough Hotel in London.
    I can say that this is not one of my favorite cocktails taste wise. It is very strong, for it has only alcohol and only strong alcohol. And I was never fond of the combination between champagne and vodka, but some of you might like it.....

1 1/2 ounce vodka from the freezer

1/2 ounce chilled champagne

1 sugar cube

1/4 ounce absinthe 

#219 Cocktail: Old Cuban

     This cocktail is soooo delicious!
      ......but the recipe is not that old as the name states. It was created by Audrey Sanders, the New York's Libation Goddess in 2002.
       The name of the cocktail comes from the fact that the base alcohol should be the Bacardi 8 anejo rum and as the Imbibe magazine stated, it is a " hybrid between a Mojito and French 75"

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

3/4 to 1 ounce simple syrup

6 fresh mint leaves

1 1/2 ounce Bacardi 8 anejo rum

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Moet & Chandon champagne

#214 Cocktail: Nelson's Blood

    No idea who invented this cocktail, but the name suggests that it pays an homage to Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson who lost his life in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
    Gaz Regan found out about this fancy drink from a friend of his, Richard Ward, who used to serve this cocktail on a cruise ship in the 1970's

1 1/2 ounce ruby port

4 ounces chilled champagne

#205 Cocktail: Moon Walk

  The cocktail was made to commemorate Neil Armstrong's first step on the surface of the moon.
The cocktail was created in 1969 (of course) by Joe Gilmore, bartender at Savoy Hotel.

1 ounce fresh grapefruit juice

1 ounce Grand Marnier

1 dash rose water

3 1/2 ounce Champagne

#201 Cocktail: Mimosa

   A cocktail composed of equal parts champagne (or other sparkling wine) and chilled citrus fruit juice, usually orange juice unless otherwise specified (e.g. a grapefruit juice mimosa). It is traditionally served in a tall champagne flute with a morning brunch, to guests at weddings, or as part of "1st Class" service on some passenger railways and airlines.
   It is believed to have been invented circa 1925 in the Hôtel Ritz Paris by Frank Meier. It is probably named after the common name in Anglophone Europe for the yellow flowers of Acacia dealbata
  The cocktail recipe can be improved by adding the triple sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier and also play a little with the quantities

1/2 ounce triple sec

1 1/2 once fresh orange juice 

3 1/2 ounce champagne

#170 Cocktail: Kir & Kir Royal

   I decided to put both Kir and Kir Royal in the same post due to the fact that they are, basically the same drink, except that one is with prosecco and the other with champagne.
   In France it is usually drunk as an apéritif before a meal or snack. Originally the wine used was Bourgogne Aligoté, a lesser white wine of Burgundy. Nowadays, various white wines are used throughout France, according to the region and the whim of the barkeeper. Many prefer a white Chardonnay-based Burgundy, such as Chablis.
   Originally called blanc-cassis, the drink is now named after Félix Kir (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon in Burgundy, who as a pioneer of the twinning movement in the aftermath of the Second World War popularized the drink by offering it at receptions to visiting delegations. Besides treating his international guests well, he was also promoting two economic products of the region. Kir initially allowed one of Dijon's producers of crème de cassis to use his name, but subsequently extended the right to their competitors as well. According to Rolland (2004), the reinvention of blanc-cassis (post 1945) was necessitated by the German Army's confiscation of all the local red Burgundy during the war. Faced with an excess of white wine, Kir renovated a drink that previously was made primarily with the red. (Wikipedia)

5 ounces chilled dry white wine

Creme de cassis to taste

( for Kir Royal, instead of white wine, use champagne)

#126 Cocktail: French 75

    The drink dates to World War I, and an early form was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris—later Harry's New York Bar—by barman Harry MacElhone. The combination was said to have such a kick that it felt like being shelled with the powerful French 75mm field gun.
      The drink was first recorded as the 75 in Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, 1922 edition, by Harry MacElhone, and in the same year in Robert Vermeire's Cocktails: How to Mix Them, which credits the drink to MacElhone. However, the recipes differed from the current form – MacElhone's version consisted of Calvados, gin, grenadine, and absinthe, while Vermeire added lemon juice.
     This cocktail is a Tom Collins made with champagne....which makes it better.

1 ounce Gin

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon simple syrup

top with champagne

#122 Cocktail: Fallen Angel

    A nice smooth taste, dominated by the champagne, but with the subtle taste of the triple sec and the rum in the back. I think the cranberry juice is just for the color, cause I can't feel anything from it and, anyway, is in small quantity.
   The drink is adapted from a recipe from Drovers Tap Room in New York, which I see from the internet that in the mean time it closed.
    A really nice cocktail to be served at a party.

1 ounce Bacardi Limon

1/4 ounce triple sec

1/4 ounce cranberry juice

top with champagne

#118 Cocktail: Eve's Seduction Apple Martini

   Damn, this cocktail is good!
   It has a slight flavor of almonds from the amaretto, the vodka is not overpowering the taste, the balance between sweet and sour is proper and with that champagne on top, makes this cocktail an elegant marvel.
     Have no idea why it has this name, but I tend to think it is because the apple vodka used as a base liquor. The drink is adapted from a recipe by Matt Knepper from the Fifth Floor Bar, Hotel Palomar, San Francisco. So, if you are around, tell him to make you one of these. You won't regret it

1 1/2 ounce apple vodka

1/4 ounce amaretto

1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

1/4 ounce fresh lime juice

1/4 ounce simple syrup

top with champagne

#74 Cocktail: Champagne Cocktail

     The original Champagne Cocktail is detailed in Jerry Thomas's 1862 "How to Mix Drinks or The Bon Vivant Companion", but his methodology is a little bit strange: " Fill tumbler one third full of broken ice and fill balance with wine. Shake well and serve. The ingredient are listed as champagne, a half tea spoon of sugar, one or two dashes of angostura bitters, and one piece of lemon peel, and that's pretty much what we use to make a Champagne Cocktail today, but the idea to shake up the drink is somewhat mystifying. The shaker could explode when open.
     A couple of yyears later, Charles H Barker Jr., detailed quite a few deviations in his book " The Gentleman's Companion". They included teh Maharajah's Burra-Peg: "And we would sip various things includiing a quartet of champagneBurra-Peg and he would recount to us certain toothsome bits of under the punkah' tales about maharajahs and people; and how, actually, the young new that we met prefered one wife to the regiment of 400 or so what his dad thoughtfully left for him.
     In 1945, more variations of champagne cocktails with names such as She Couldn't Say No, Her Sarong Slipped and Widow's Might appeared in "Crosby's Guide and Ladies' Companion"

1 sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters 

5 1/2 ounces Champagne

#55 Cocktail: B9 Martini

  The drink is from a recipe adapted from Butterfield 9 restaurant in Washington DC. In the mean time , since the Gaz Regan book was out, the restaurant closed. So maybe it is good that we remain with a recipe from a delicious drink.
   The combination between the orange vodka and the peach schnapps one of the best I ever tasted, and topping this with a bit of dry champagne, makes the drink exquisite. I recommend this drink to all of you who do not enjoy that much the classic martini

1 1/2 ounce orange vodka

1/2 ounce peach schnapps

top it with champagne

#51 Cocktail: Black Velvet

    The drink is said to have been created in 1861 when the steward of the Brooks Club in London deemed that champagne should be drunk in the mourning for Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, when added stout to the glass so that every drink would be black. That story, though entertaining, is very hard to verify.
     The earliest reference under the name Black Velvet is in 1945 book "Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide and Ladies' Companion". Later David Embury wrote that he had been introduced to the drink in Canada, but he neglects to put a date on the experience
     The first recipe of the Black Velvet called for a fifty-fifty mix of stout and champagne, and many recipes suggest that you should make it in a pint glass. Gaz Regan is in favor of a less stout in the mis and served in a champagne flute

4 1/2 ounces champagne

1 ounce stout

#11 Cocktail: Alfonso

  The Alfonso cocktail was created for Alfonso XIII- dethroned Spanish King. The Alfonso cocktail looks like French, but first print mention we find in Craddock's "The Savoy Cocktail book".
   The cocktail is a variation of the classic Champagne Cocktail.

1 sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters

1 ounce Dubonnet Rouge

4 1/2 ounces Champagne

1 lemon twist, for garnish