Easy Sparkling Cocktails to Celebrate the New Year
From a classic champagne cocktail, to a French 75, to your own favorite combination, these easy sparkling cocktails are ideal for all of your holiday celebrations and special occasions. They’re perfect for ringing in the new year or serving at a new year’s day brunch.
Champagne cocktail recipes are easy to make because they use simple ingredients – and only a few of them – while skipping a lot of the common bar tools, like a cocktail shaker or strainer.Â
Whether you make them with sparkling wine, prosecco, or champagne, bubbly cocktails have such a festive feel to them. Served in a champagne flute or coupe glass, sparkling cocktails say “special” in a way that other drinks don’t.
Choose Dry Wine for Your Cocktails
Even if you love sweet wine and sweet cocktails, choose to a dry sparkling wine or brut champagne for cocktails, not a moscato. Each of the cocktail recipes below contains a sugar ingredient, so choosing too sweet of a wine will lead to the sugariness overpower the flavors in the drink.
Chill Your Sparkling Drink Ingredients
Ice cubes don’t belong in sparkling cocktails, so don’t rely on adding ice to make your ingredients cold. No matter the recipe you choose, make sure as many ingredients as possible – and especially your sparkling wine or champagne of choice – is well chilled. You can even keep the liquors in the freezer until ready to serve.
Classic Sparkling Cocktails
Three of the best known, classic bubbly drinks are a champagne cocktail, the classic mimosa, and a French 75.
The queen of brunch, mimosas are simply orange juice topped with sparking wine. The recipe varies, but mostly it’s personal preference for your juice to prosecco ratio. DIY mimosa bars are fun to set up for brunches at home because there are lots of variations on this bubbly cocktail. Swap the orange juice for cranberry juice and add a splash of orange liqueur for a poinsettia cocktail, or add peach juice instead of orange for a peach bellini.
For a classic champagne cocktail, place a sugar cube (or ½ teaspoon of sugar) into a glass and cover it with 4 dashes of aromatic Angostura bitters. Pour well-chilled champagne or prosecco over the top and enjoy.
🥂 Note: Sparking wine can only be called champagne if it comes from the champagne region of France. Prosecco, however, has no regional restrictions on its name. It’s a dry sparkling wine with Italian roots and is readily found in most grocery stores and liquor stores at a budget-friendly price point.
French 75 cocktails were created in France and became popular with U.S. troops during World War 1. They brought the drink with them to the U.S. when they returned home.
The classic French 75 recipe is lemon juice, simple syrup, and gin mixed with champagne. You can get the full recipe on my French 75 cocktail page. It’s an easy and refreshing champagne cocktail that’s not to be missed!
Don’t Miss These Sparkling Cocktail Recipes
Sparking cocktails are anything but boring! Try my Sparkling Strawberry Basil Cocktail, a Sparkling Ros̩ cocktail with elderflower, or one of my twists on a classic Рan Apple French 75 or Blueberry French 75.
Create Your Own Signature Sparkling Cocktail
When creating a combination for sparkling drinks, think simple. You’re looking for 1 sour/bitter ingredient, like bitters or citrus juice, and 1 sweet ingredient, like liqueurs or simple syrups to add to the sparkling wine. The flavors of the two ingredients should compliment each other, with the sparkling wine being what brings everything together.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- 1 ounce raspberry liqueur + 4 dashes chocolate bitters
- 1 ounce apple cider + 0.5 ounce caramel vodka
- 0.5 ounce fresh lemon juice + 0.5 ounce elderflower liqueur
Top your glass with your favorite sparkling wine or Champagne and enjoy!
How Do You Garnish a Sparkling Cocktail?
Fresh fruit is a great option when it comes to garnishing bubbly cocktails. You want a light garnish that isn’t going to take over the glass or get in the way while you’re sipping your drink. A thin orange slice, a slice of strawberry, a few fresh cranberries, or a twist of lemon peel or orange peel all make great garnishes. You can even add a little sparkle with edible glitter.
Easy Holiday Season Snack Pairings
Sparkling cocktails pair well with rich and creamy appetizers. Some of my favorites to make for my New Year’s Eve spread include Crab Rangoon Dip, Smoked Salmon Bites, Slow Cooker Savory Spiced Nuts, Three Cheese Artichoke Dip, and Bacon-Wrapped Dates.
