Brighten up Your Christmas Morning With Mimosa and Cocktail Bitters
Mimosa is a nice start to any day, but it’s essential on Christmas morning just to soften the harsh sound of ripping wrapping paper. The pairing of sparkling wine and fruit juice doesn’t require much tweaking and doesn’t require an exact recipe, but a little nuance can’t hurt. And nothing brings out the nuances like cocktail bitters.
Of course, the nuances are lost after a couple of shots, but try adding a few drops to your first (or even second) morning smoothie and treat your taste buds to something completely different. Cocktail bitters are, after all, a spice shelf in a bar cart. They will give your juicy drink a little seriousness, depth and undeniable character.
Any flavor of bitter you like will work, but I highly recommend the classic Angostura or Regan orange bitter. With a strong gentian backbone and hints of cloves and cinnamon, Angostura will give your drink a decidedly Christmas vibe, much like an orange studded with whole cloves.
Adding orange bitter to an orange-based drink may seem like overkill, and orange bitter will boost the citrus factor, but it’s more orange peel than juice, and it’s softened with cardamom, cumin, coriander, anise, and cinnamon. If you want to go crazy, try another bitter fruit like grapefruit or cranberries.
To serve, place bottles of bitters next to sparkling wine and a couple of juices. I like tangerine and grapefruit, and I serve them in restaurant-style bottles to better control the flow of juice. I like my mimosa to be (much) more champagne than juice, and this is much easier to achieve when I can squirt it in rather than pour it out.