Champagne Pick-Me-Up
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 9.4% ABV ∙
The Champagne Pick-Me-Up is a brunch-style sparkling cocktail of Cognac, fresh orange juice, and grenadine topped with dry sparkling wine.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake the first 3 ingredients with ice: Cognac 30 mlOrange juice 45 mlGrenadine syrup 10 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Top with Dry sparkling wine
Tips
- Shake the cognac, orange juice and grenadine hard with ice for about 10-12 seconds, then fine-strain into the flute to catch pulp and ice shards.
- Keep the grenadine to 10 ml; even a little extra swamps the orange juice and the wine's fizz in this fairly light drink.
History
The Champagne Pick-Me-Up belongs to a style bartenders of the era called the cocktail royale: a spirit-based drink topped with a restrained pour of Champagne, a category that took hold in the American-style bars of Paris and London during the 1920s and 1930s. Most accounts trace this particular recipe to Harry's New York Bar in Paris, crediting proprietor Harry MacElhone with creating it in the mid-1920s.
A rival attribution, followed by bartender Dale DeGroff in his 2008 book "The Essential Cocktail," instead credits the Ritz Bar in Paris with the drink, placing it there around 1936. The name reflects the broader use of "pick-me-up" for a restorative morning drink, a term already used for hangover cures and bracing cocktails since the 19th century.
FAQ
What is in a Champagne Pick-Me-Up?
Cognac, fresh orange juice, and grenadine, shaken and topped with dry sparkling wine.
Is a Champagne Pick-Me-Up shaken or stirred?
Shaken. The Cognac, orange juice, and grenadine are shaken hard with ice and fine-strained into the flute. The sparkling wine goes in last and never into the shaker, so it keeps its bubbles.
What glass is a Champagne Pick-Me-Up served in?
A flute glass, which keeps the sparkling wine's bubbles rising longer than a wider glass would.
