It is Christmas time and that means it is time for some wonderful Christmas cocktails. Each year, one of the things that I look forward to is being able to make some festive holiday cocktails for my family. Not only do I try hard to make these cocktails festive and pretty, but I also make sure to focus on making them taste good. Whether it’s the White Christmas Margarita or the Gingerbread Espresso Martini, my family relishes in the fact that they can sip on pretty holiday drinks each year. This year, to kick off Christmas morning in a great way, I crafted the Starlit Apple Christmas Mimosa, which is a wonderful apple cider mimosa that pairs well with Christmas breakfast.
When it comes to Christmas mimosas, it comes down to the taste and the presentation. With a mimosa recipe being something that is not too complex, you’ll want to make your mimosa stand out and be festive on Christmas to bring in the Christmas magic and to have people asking for more. Each December, I make it a challenge to add a little flare to some of the more traditional cocktails that are made, and with this Starlit Apple Christmas Mimosa, I did just that.
When crafting this Christmas morning mimosa, I decided to go with the apple flavor because of the fact that I was also preparing to serve another apple cocktail for Christmas dinner – the Toasted Apple Cider Bourbon Smash. My family is one that loves apples and with apples being one of the flavors of the season, you can’t really go wrong with adding it to your cocktail menu for the holiday. In the past, we’ve done some of the other traditional mimosas that include juices such as pomegranate juice, cranberry juice, and orange juice. And though apple cider isn’t something that is non-traditional, it became a champagne cocktail that contained a little flare and is one that can be served on other occasions such as to celebrate the new year.
This Christmas morning mimosa is one of the easier Christmas cocktail recipes because it can be made quickly and doesn’t include that many ingredients. For Christmas morning your want at mimosa that balances out the main dishes of your breakfast and tastes well with even the other food that is being served on Christmas.
The type of champagne that you choose for your mimosa will make or break how great the mimosa tastes. I typically go with a Brut for mimosas because it actually has a sweeter taste than an extra-dry champagne. Brut is the driest champagne or least sweet, which makes it great for mimosa that include sweet juices. With apple cider being on the sweeter side, a Brut champagne will create a good balance which will then compliment the salty and sweet foods that you may have for breakfast. In some mimosa recipes, people like to also include a sparkling wine that typically has a more sweeter aspect, but I would avoid that for this recipe unless you are looking for a sweeter mimosa for Christmas morning.
I’m typically ones that leads towards Veuve Clicquot for my choice of champagne, but that doesn’t mean that is the only one that will work. My biggest suggestion, depending on how you want to serve your champagne is to get the miniature bottles of champagne. This helps, especially if there are other breakfast cocktails that you’re offering, to not let the larger bottle sit and become a waste if it’s not all used on the same day. Additionally, it is great to present the champagne flute with the ice cubes and garnishes in the glass with the edible glitter and then as the person pours they can see the starlit magic take place
For this particular apple cider mimosa, I decided to craft it by creating frozen apple cider balls. These present so well and allow for the apple cider juice to mix slowly and smoothly with each slip since the champagne and juice are not blended together completely right at the start.
You’ll want to prepare your ice cubes the day before by using a mini circle ice cube tray. Simply pour your apple cider straight into the tray as directed and then let it freeze overnight. Typically, one tray of the balls will make 2-3 glasses. If you’re having a larger party, you can start the day before and freeze some during the day and then put them in a container and freeze more. I would say at minimum, it takes about five hours for a tray to freeze.
For garnishing your Starlit Apple Christmas Mimosa, you’ll want to have apple slices, rosemary and gold edible glitter. The gold edible glitter is what will make the starlit aspect of this holiday mimosa come to life. When preparing your garnishes, you’ll actually want to put the quartered apple slices in the glass with the apple cider ice cubes and then put a 1/4 teaspoon of the edible glitter in the glass prior to pouring the champagne. For the unquartered apple slice and rosemary, you can garnish before or after pouring the champagne. I like do all of the garnishes and then present the glass with an individual champagne bottle so that the drinker can see the gold glitter flow around as the champagne is poured.
Keywords: mimosa, cocktail, champagne
