Groove Appeal Cocktail

Colleen Jeffers new book “Bubbly,” covers the theory and practice of making quality sparkling cocktails. It’s brief, under 200 pages, well photographed, and full of useful information. The book contains dozens of cocktail recipes, the theory, and a lot of practical advice on creating Champagne cocktails. For example, I’d never thought about it, but Champagne naturally lends a sour element to cocktails due to dissolved CO2. Colleen explains how creating a champagne cocktail is a race against time, as it’s constantly losing carbonation, and how you can attempt to forestall its demise by chilling your ingredients and stemware.

I’m always on the lookout for simple champagne cocktails that don’t require a ton of preparation, and ideally don’t require fresh citrus. The Groove Appeal is one such drink. It’s simple, just three ingredients and a topping of champagne, and it tastes delicious. You can pre-batch the Grand Marnier, Rum, and Angostura bitters together as well if you want to have it ready to go for a brunch.

Ingredients

• .75 oz Aged Jamaican Rum (e.g. Appleton Estate Signature).
• .75 oz Grand Mariner, or other orange-flavored liqueur. I used Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao.
• 1 Dash Angostura Bitters
• 2 oz Champagne

Glass

Cocktail Glass

Instructions

• Add rum, liqueur and bitters to a mixing glass with ice.
• Strain into a chilled coupe or Champagne flute.
• Garnish with a lemon wheel