A definitive ranking of the best ways to drink champagne

A definitive ranking of the best ways to drink champagne

We get asked all the time for our recommendations for great champagne and/or sparkling wines (you can check out our favourite sparklings under $10 here and our favourite sparklings under $30 here). But what are the best ways to drink those gorgeous bubbles of happiness once you’ve got them in your hot little hand (or preferably in your nice cold fridge). I set myself the task of ranking champagne bevvies from absolute best to “do this if you’re stuck in an airport lounge while your flight’s delayed for the third time and your kids won’t stop asking if you’re there yet”. Because I love you.

Here’s what I came up with.

Best ways to drink champagne – the good proper French stuff

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  1. Cold in a beautiful glass with great company – preferably on the deck of your super yacht.
  2. Daylight.
  3. From a champagne tower (here’s the time we made a kickass champagne tower ourselves).
  4. Everything else.

Seriously, if you’ve got beautiful French champagne, serve it ice cold. Do not fuck it up by adding anything.

A montage dedicated to the awesomeness of Champagne.
A montage dedicated to the awesomeness of Champagne. Champagne Si, Agua, No!

If you have some sub-standard sparking, however, you might want to add some delightful options to give it a kick. Gillian and I did our own scientific testing, and we asked our brains trust in Champagne Women on Facebook (Have you joined us yet? You totally should!) to contribute their favourites as well. This is what we found.

The best ways to drink sub-standard sparkling wine

How to make a Kir Royale

  1. French 75 – gin and champagne in the same delicious beverage – how could we go past this one? Check out our French 75 recipe from the gorgeous Gin Queen.
  2. Bellini – blend some peaches with a dash of sugar syrup and place in the bottom of a glass; add three parts bubbles and you’re laughing. Use tinned peaches if you’re camping or have generally given up on life.
  3. Mimosa – bubbles and orange juice provides automatic permission for breakfast drinking
  4. Kir Royale (our FB ladies voted overwhelmingly for this but it reminds me too much of Ribena to be allowed too close to the number one spot). Get the Kir Royale recipe here.
  5. In our Champagne, Dragonfruit and Lychee Granita (or take Amanda’s suggestion of adding some granita to half a glass of champagne and making a super fancy champagne slushy – we LOVE this idea!)
  6. With a few raspberries or strawberries (frozen, optional)
  7. With a generous scoop of lemon sorbet (thanks Jodie)
  8. With pureed strawberries and chambord (thanks Clare)
  9. With an ice cube – classic
  10. With a dash of cranberry juice and/or fresh cranberries for a distinctive Christmas vibe (thanks Sandy)
  11. With a rosella or hibiscus flower (I’m sorry, I know a lot of you like it, but there’s something about it that just makes me want to whack on my uggies and move in with Noelene at Sylvania Waters)
  12. Out of a shoe
  13. Absolut Shambles – Red Bull, sparkling wine, vanilla Absolut vodka (Kate can go straight to the naughty corner for that one).

And if you want to sparkle up your entire evening, try our 9 awesome champagne recipes to French up your life.

champagne_cheers

Cheers! What do you think of our list? What would you add or change?

 

 

Written By

Carolyn is the editorial director of Champagne Cartel and a freelance writer. In her spare time she is a long-distance runner, peanut butter enthusiast, and single mum to three incredible humans.

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