Cheers! Your Champagne Recipe for New Year's and Beyond
According to Timothy Buzinski, co-proprietor of Artisan Wine Shop in Beacon, NY, Champagne and other sparkling wines should be enjoyed at all times, as easy as wine or a craft beer. Yet in the States, bubbly is almost entirely associated with New Year's Eve and other celebrations. Perhaps one New Year's resolution could be to drink Champagne more often (not a hard resolution to keep, I would think!). To take it one step further, and make it easier to get creative, we are looking into making a cocktail out of that glass of bubbly.
On the eve of the New Year, I stopped into a few of Beacon's most trusted sources for Champagne and drink flavorings - Artisan Wine Shop and Drink More Good. The proprietors at each opened my eyes to pouring a few drips of bitters or cassis into champagne or a sparkly white wine.
Meet a few of the many bitters shelved on the wall under "Bitters" at Drink More Good. In flavors like Gypsy Tamarind Cacao, Kiki Lavender Elderberry, and my surprising favorite, Scarlet Strawberry Chili.
To taste test, one squeezes a drop of the flavor on the hand, then lick! I recommend also smelling the drop, because the experiences are totally different. To drink, squeeze one full dropper of your chosen flavor into a glass of Champagne, and enjoy.
For a more traditional flavoring that is sure to be sweet, pour a bit of cassis into your glass, and you have a fresh and fruity treat. While dining, you may wonder what goes well with Champagne? Tim recommends popcorn. Pretty simple! I might take it a step further and make that a cheese-coated popcorn of some kind. But most important for this cocktail, Tim says, is to make sure the pairing is salty. If you're out to dinner, or planning on having Champagne after your meal, have smoked fish or trout, or other fish. Entertaining at home? Beacon Pantry has a shrimp cocktail that you can pre-order, and if you ask really nicely, they may even make you a cocktail sauce from scratch.
Happy New Year - And Beyond!