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America’s Test Kitchen: Whether you want to splurge or save, here’s how to make a cocktail that sparkles

We started our Champagne cocktail with an Angostura bitters-soaked sugar cube in the bottom of a chilled flute. Then we filled the glass with Champagne and garnished it with a lemon twist. These four ingredients interacted to form a cocktail that evolved from sip to sip.

Bursting bubbles aromatized lemon oils from the twist to make the first sip bright and citrusy. Then the Champagne’s flavors and aromas took over, with whispers of warm spices and orange hinting at what was to come. As the sugar cube dissolved, it created a bitters-infused syrup. Because this syrup was denser than the wine, it stayed at the bottom of the flute.

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The final sips delivered the flavors of the Angostura and balanced the bitters with the wine’s acidity and the sugar’s sweetness.

Champagne Cocktail

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Makes 1 cocktail

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1 sugar cube

1/4 teaspoon Angostura bitters

5 1/2 fluid ounces (1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons) Champagne, chilled

1 lemon twist

1. Place sugar cube in a small bowl. Add bitters to the sugar cube. Transfer soaked sugar cube to a chilled champagne flute. Add Champagne and garnish with lemon twist. Serve.

(For 25 years, home cooks have relied on America’s Test Kitchen for rigorously tested recipes developed by professional test cooks and vetted by 60,000 at-home recipe testers. The family of brands — which includes Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country — offers reliable recipes for cooks of all skill levels. See more online at www.americastestkitchen.com/TCA.)

©2023 America’s Test Kitchen. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


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