New Year’s Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail

Welcome to 2021! We made it!

New Year’s Eve gets all the hype, but if you ask me, New Year’s Day is where the real fun is.

Don’t get me wrong, I love donning a party hat and toasting flutes of champagne while counting backwards from 10 as much as the next person. But New Year’s Eve always leaves me with an underwhelmed feeling, and occasionally a throbbing headache.

If you ask me, New Year’s Day is where the real fun is. Although this year we will be missing the Rose Bowl Parade and the NHL Winter Classic– two of my NYD traditions- New Year’s Day is still full of optimism, resolutions and of course, brunch!

And what goes better with brunch than a mimosa? This New Year’s Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail is a posh version of a mimosa that combines, rosemary, honey, blood red oranges and of course champagne to create a seasonal must-have for a boozy brunch.

Blood Oranges are one of my favorite flavors. They are a natural mutation of sweet oranges that taste like a cross between an orange and a raspberry. Their vibrant flavor combined with Rosemary is what gives this cocktail that extra kick for the New Year. I recommend this delicious aperitif for New Year’s Day brunch but it can be enjoyed day or night throughout the Blood Orange Season (December-March).

New Year’s Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail

Ingredients:

Rosemary Syrup (rosemary and honey)
Blood Orange Juice
Champagne
Rosemary Springs and Orange Slices for Garnish

Mix It:

For the Rosemary Syrup- add 4-5 springs of Rosemary to 2 cups of water. Bring to boil then let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out the Rosemary and allow to cool. Once cool combine with 1 cup of honey and set aside.

For the Cocktail- in a champagne glass combine 1 Tbsp. Rosemary Syrup and 2 Tbsp. Blood Orange Juice. Fill glass the rest of the way with Champagne and garnish with a spring of Rosemary and a blood orange slice.

New Year’s Eve French 75 Twelve Grape Cocktail

2020, wow this is a big one. Not only do we ring in a New Year but also a new decade! It deserves something extra special don’t you think! This isn’t the time for just an ordinary drink.

New Year’s Eve cocktails should be exceptional. They should inspire dancing and conversation and trips back to the bar. They should have bubbles and citrus, zippy flavors and bold flavor profiles.

Your drink should feel celebratory, because that’s what you’re doing!

While popping the cork on a bottle of champs is fine, why not start the New Year a little “extra” with a drink deserving of a new decade that is not only tasty AF but also delivers some luck and prosperity for the year to come.

I have combined two of my favorite things a French cocktail and a holiday tradition into a New Year’s Eve cocktail that is 2020 worthy: a New Year’s Eve French 75 Twelve Grape Cocktail.

I won’t completely take the bubbly away- you will still be sipping it but in the form of a French 75.

French 75’s are made with a standard pour of gin and topped with Champagne, so it’s a strong citrusy drink in a sparkling dress. what makes mine a little different is that I garnish it with 12 Grapes.

Why 12 Grapes?

This popular tradition is a century or so old, though its exact origins remain debatable. It originated in Spain and is celebrated all across Europe and Mexico on New Year’s eve.

As the tradition goes you’re supposed to eat las doce uvas de la suerte (“the 12 lucky grapes”) at midnight- but you don’t gobble them all down at once.

The goal is to eat them one at at a time to coincide with the twelve chimes on the clock at the stroke of midnight. It is said that if you eat all 12 by the time the chimes end then you will have good luck in el año nuevo (the new year).

It makes for a fun conversation filled way to ring in the New Year!

1.5 ounces Gin
1 teaspoon Simple Syrup
juice from 1.2 a lemon (fresh) Can add more to taste
4 ounces Champagne
Ice Cubes
Cocktail Shaker
Skewer
12 grapes

I like to make my own Simple Syrup- because I’m bougie like that. For a French 75 I craft a lemon simple syrup that is totally easy to make. Combine 1 1/2 lbs. organic lemons (chopped with peel on), 1 1/2 cups water, 2 cups sugar and a pinch of salt into a saucepan and simmer for 20-30 minutes (until sugar is totally dissolved). Remove from heat, strain and cool. Pour cooled, strained syrup into clean jar or bottle. This syrup will store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month!

…And since we are stacking up New Years traditions don’t forget to open the back door of your house just before midnight to “let the old year out” and open the front door to “let the New Year in”.