Playing Cocktail Waitress

Can I get you a cocktail? A French Kiss perhaps? Oh....no, no Madam, I wasn't offering your husband that kind of French Kiss! Why it's a cocktail, of course!


French Kiss Cocktail

1 part apricot juice
2 parts Champagne or sparkling wine
1 apricot slice, for garnish

Pour apricot juice into a champagne flute. Add champagne and stir. Place apricot slice on the rim as a garnish.


Pear Brandy Champagne Cocktail

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons French pear brandy
2 2/3 cups chilled champagne or sparkling wine
1 small Bosc pear

In a small saucepan, heat sugar and 1/4 cup pear brandy over moderate heat until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and cool syrup. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons syrup into each of 4 champagne glasses and add 1 teaspoon pear brandy to each glass. Add 2/3 cup champagne to each glass and stir well. Cut pear lenghtwise into thin slices and add 1 slice to each cocktail.


Killer Mango Champagne Cocktail

1 12oz can mango nectar
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
12 black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bottle Champagne or sparkling wine

Bring the nectar to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add all of the spices. Let the mixture cool, then strain and refrigerate.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the spicy mango mixture into a Champagne flute and top with chilled Champagne.


French "75" Champagne Cocktail

8 ounces gin
8 ounces orange liqueur, such as Cointreau or triple sec
1 lime, juiced
4 dashes orange bitters
8 sugar cubes
1 bottle Champagne or sparkling wine, chilled

Pour gin, orange liqueur, lime juice, and bitters into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well to blend. Put a sugar cube into a Champagne flute. Strain about 2 ounces of the gin mixture into the glass. Carefully top it off with Champagne.


Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail

1 teaspoon fresh pomegranate berries, optional
4 ounces Champagne or sparkling wine
1/2 teaspoon store bought pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon cassis

Place fresh pomegranate berries, if using, into a Champagne flute. Pour Champagne into flute, add pomegranate juice and cassis.


Chocolate Espresso Bellini

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup espresso
3/4 cup chopped chocolate
1/4 cup Kahlua
1 bottle Champagne or sparkling wine, chilled

In a small saucepan combine the sugar and espresso over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Pour the sugar and espresso mixture over the chocolate and let sit until the chocolate melts, about 3 minutes. Add the coffee liqueur and stir to combine. Place the chocolate mixture in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool.

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Note: Did you know Prosecco is the Italian version of Champagne? For Champagne to be called Champagne, it has to be made in the Champagne region of France. But Prosecco and sparkling wine are the same thing....just without the pedigree.