What stag party would be complete without at least one round of cocktails? Teach the groom to flip like Tom Cruise, get in a mixologist for the evening to impress your friends, or just crack out a cocktail book and go for your life. However you choose to do it, there?s a certain moment in any stag party when nothing will do but that there?s a glass of something fizzy and brightly coloured in everyone?s hand.
So ??what are the most popular cocktails to make using sparkling wine? Well, that all depends on how dangerous everyone?s feeling?
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1: The Real Deal Tequila Slammer
Most people think a tequila slammer is a shot of tequila done with salt and lemon. It?s not. That?s technically known as a tequila shot.
No ??a real deal tequila slammer is a shot of agave liquor slammed in a measure of sparkling wine. The original cocktail calls for champagne but you can work just as well with a Cava or a Prosecco. In fact, given the expected results of having more than one of these (think Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster), using sparkling wine is probably just as well.
The method is simple. Using a heavy tumbler, add one measure of fizz and dump in the shot. Cover the glass with your hand, rap on the bar and drink immediately. The tequila goes into the bubbles and hits the bloodstream quickly ??so be careful?
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2: Black Velvet
It?s easy to make and a hot favourite with Guinness drinkers in particular. The Black Velvet is essentially stout (normally Guinness) and fizz in the same glass. The fizz is floated on top of the stout to give a two layered appearance.
Note ??to float one drink on top of another, the second liquid is poured slowly over the back of a teaspoon. In a Black Velvet, the stout is added first, then the fizz, in a champagne flute.
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3: The Champagne Cocktail
This is the original movie-buff?s cocktail, and a classic still. Start by swirling a small measure of Angostura bitters around a flute. Pour the bitters away. Add champagne or sparkling wine, a pinch of sugar and float a maraschino cherry in the liquid. It?s what every9one drinks at Rick?s in?Casablanca.
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4: Bellini
Peachy, that?s the word for this one. Literally. Everything about the Bellini, with the exception of the champagne of course, is derived from peaches: cr?me de peche, fresh skinned peach and (if you can find it) peach bitters). If you can?t get peach bitters normal bitters will do.
Start by blending one quarter of a fresh, skinned peach and putting the resulting slop in the bottom of a champagne flute. Add a dash of bitters and a single measure of cr?me de peche. Top to the rim with bubbles and drop a peach ball in to finish.
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5: Champagne Charlie
Easy to make, fiendishly strong and having the added attraction of being named after a legendary traveller and champagne magnate, a Champagne Charlie is basically apricot brandy and fizz in a champagne flute. Brandy first, then chilled champers, preferably served in a flute that?s been in the fridge.
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6: Kir Royale
Similar to the Champagne Charlie but made with blackcurrant liqueur instead of apricot brandy, the Kir Royale is dark and sweet. A Kir without the Royale is made using white wine instead of champagne; while a Kir Imperiale can only be made with Dom Perignon. The ratio is the same in all cases: one part blackcurrant liqueur (cr?me de cassis) to four parts wine.
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7: The French 75
Easy and classic, this is more like a sparkling martini than anything else. It uses a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add one and a half measures of gin, the juice of half a lemon and a half teaspoon of icing sugar. Shake and strain into a flute. Top up with fizz.
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