London Unattached

Cultural News and Reviews - London

You are here: Home / Cocktails and Drinks / Classic Champagne Cocktail for Christmas

Classic Champagne Cocktail for Christmas

by 220 Comments

Tweet
Pin
Share
Flip
Share

Last Updated on January 2, 2026

A Classic Champagne Cocktail – and all about the magnum.

Do you have people on your Christmas list that you struggle to buy a present for?  Well, The Magnum Company might just provide the perfect solution.  Somehow, offering a bottle of wine, fizz, olive oil or even gin in a magnum size makes for a much more special present.  I love the idea that The Magnum Company has a small, perfectly formed selection of products including several excellent quality champagnes and sparkling wines. And, if you’ve got your hands on a magnum of champagne, well, one way to make it even more special is to create a classic Champagne Cocktail.  Did you know the classic champagne cocktail is what Humphrey Bogart was drinking when he uttered those immortal words in Casablanca ‘ Here’s Looking at You, Kid’.

Wiki tells us that a recipe for the Champagne Cocktailappears in Jerry Thomas’ Bon Vivant’s Companion (1862), though this version omits the brandy or cognac.  There are also versions in a number of cookery books and cocktail manuals around that period – even Mrs Beeton had her own Champagne Cocktail recipe which included brandy, sugar and borage.  She happily wrote that it was ‘suitable for picnics, balls, wedding, and other festive occasions. ‘

Did you know that in the case of wine, size really does matter.

In the words of Winston Churchill

‘A magnum is the perfect size for 2 gentlemen to share over lunch…especially if one of them isn’t drinking’.

Pol Roger Magnum Landscape 2

But more than that, with sparkling wines made using methode traditionnelle (the way all champagne and many top-quality sparkling wines are made) there’s a real benefit to the magnum format.  For a start, the bottles are still hand riddled (the turning process to make the lees or yeast settle) because the mechanisation can’t cope with larger bottle formats.  Secondly, many wine specialists believe that the Magnum bottle will produce superior champagne because the lees and the air at the top of the bottle come in contact with less of the wine.

With The Magnum Company, you have a choice of five different champagnes, a magnum of Nyetimber or even one of  English cyder made using methode traditionnelle.

Or, for something a little different, there are wines, port, sherry and even olive oil.  It’s the kind of gift that will really impress.

Pol Roger Magnum 2

My own personal choice from The Magnum Company is Pol Roger.  As it happens, rather famously, that was Churchill’s own favourite champagne.  Pol Roger Brut Réserve is made with thirty still base wines, drawn across at least three vintages and with the three most commonly used Champagne grapes in almost equal quantities.  It’s classic champagne, with a 9g dosage and with notes of bright white flowers and green apple fading to a toasty brioche and rich minerality.  For me, it’s a great aperitif and also perfect with white fish – turbot or halibut for example.  Never released until it is at least three years old, it has Chardonnay from Epernay and the Côte des Blancs, Pinot Noir from the villages around the Montagne de Reims, and Pinot Meunier from the Vallée de la Marne.

What would you do with a Magnum of Champagne?  As I said earlier, I’d recommend trying a classic Champagne cocktail if you want something special for Christmas – here’s how to do it.

4.83 from 47 votes
Classic Champagne Cocktail
Print
Champagne Cocktail
Prep Time
5 mins
Total Time
5 mins
 

The classic Champagne Cocktail is a simple, elegant way to serve champagne or sparkling wine

Course: Cocktail
Cuisine: British
Keyword: Champagne, christmas cocktail
Servings: 1
Calories: 87 kcal
Author: Fiona Maclean
Ingredients
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 15 ml Cognac
  • 75 ml Champagne
  • 1 sugar cube
  • 1/4 fine slice orange or an orange peel twist
  • 1 Maraschino cherry
Instructions
  1. Add a dash of Angostura bitter onto the sugar cube and place carefully in the bottom of a champagne flute.
  2. Pour over the cognac
  3. Top up with chilled champagne.
  4. Garnish with orange slice and a maraschino cherry.
Nutrition Facts
Champagne Cocktail
Amount Per Serving
Calories 87
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Classic Champagne Cocktail

Don’t you think it’s just the perfect cocktail for Christmas?  Do try making a champagne cocktail yourself for Christmas this year.

Fiona Maclean

About Fiona Maclean

An award winning London based freelance writer, Fiona's career started in arts administration, before working for a leading London restaurant group under restauranteur Laurence Isaacson on restaurant brands including The Ivy and Wheelers. With a music degree and an MBA, Fiona's passions include all types of music, food, restaurants, wine and travel and she has now reviewed over 400 restaurants for London-Unattached and written countless classical music and opera features. She is the Founder and Editor of London-Unattached and has written about food, wine and travel for other print and online publications including Metro, &London and Zing Magazine.

Contact Fiona@London-Unattached.Com

Comments

  21. Debbie W says

    It would be the Marie Demet for me personally as I prefer Pinot Noir to Chardonnay but as a gift it would be the Pol Roger, which I’d take to my mother-in-law as an extra gift for cooking for us all on Christmas Day.

    Reply

  92. Caroline Hunter says

    I’d get the Nyetimber Classic Cuvee from Sussex in England for my husband. We like to support everything British if we can, so I know he’d love to try this (and share it with me hopefully!)

    Reply

  93. Emma Walton says

    I know nothing about champagne but If it’s good enough for Winston Churchill, it’s good enough for me, so with that in mind, I would opt for the Pol Roger magnum and would share it with my family to toast the new year.

    Reply

  95. olivia Kirby says

    To be honest I would pick the Pol Roger as we had that a couple of Christmases ago and it is really good. I think the Nyetimber would be nice too, both good choices for Christmas whilst opening presents.

    Reply

  112. Sarah Birkett says

    I would get the vinatge port for my husband and then makee him open at Christmas. there will be 12 of us together all playing games, and a good bottle of Port would certainly help the festivities

    Reply

  145. Rhia says

    Well as the LBV Taylor’s Port has sold out, I would graciously accept gifts of the London Dry Gin for myself. You have made my evening to realise GIN COMES IN MAGNUMS NOW, how did I not know this!?

    Reply

  152. Debby says

    I would choose Pol Roger Brut Réserve as a gift for my sister to share with her husband and 3 young adult ‘kids’ as they have had various successes and achievements over the last year or so and it would be a lovely way to say happy Xmas and well done all of you – I’m very proud of and love you all.

    Reply

  153. Carolyn E says

    I would choose the Pol Roger for my husband as it is the Champagne he bought for me on our first date. We are about to celebrate some big birthdays so it would be gifted to him but shared with me! Double win!!!

    Reply

  175. Louise Comb says

    I don’t know much about Champagne, so I would be guided by your recommendation and would choose the Pol Roger. It would be fabulous to share with my Hubster on Christmas Day. Or I might save it for my birthday in January Fingers crossed and thanks for the chance to win 🙂 XXX

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating