Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Popping Bubbly

Oh hi there. Apologies for the one week absence of your weekly guide to drinking. I was indisposed last week since Sharkbait 2.0 decided to show up last Wednesday. The family is all home and healthy. It’s certainly been an adjustment for sure. Not just for us, but especially for Sharkette since she now has to deal with a little brother. She seems to be adapting well so far at least.

Given that the last time this happened, I celebrated with some champagne (as one does). So it was only natural that I do it again. I know I should have used my library of cocktail books to find a drink this week but since we’ve basically outsourced everything else we’ve needed to do this week, I didn’t feel too guilty about outsourcing drink searching and selection to the general internet. What I ended up finding was a spin on the classic French 75, called the French 77. It seems easy to make (a huge plus this week) and we have a bottle of champagne that Mrs. Sharkbait can finally enjoy (in very limited quantities). So it seemed like a no brainer to make this one this week:

French 77

1 oz. Elderflower Liqueur
.5 oz. Lemon Juice
4 oz. Sparkling Wine
Lemon Twist garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add elderflower liqueur and lemon juice and shake for 10-15 seconds. Strain into a champagne flute and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with lemon twist.

The nose is a pretty good mix. It’s light on the elderflower with hints of lemon and some champagne aromas in there too. Overall fairly soft, and not intimidating

Oh now this is smooth. It starts out with a mix of light sweetness and citrus-y sour, and really maintains dominance most of the entire way of the sip. They work so well and are so prominent that you actually miss the bubbles from the champagne. Those bubbles really do add a nice mouth feel to the drink itself.

About the time you notice the bubbles, the flavor of the champagne comes in. Granted I wasn’t using the best quality champagne here, but the dryness of the base spirit really work well. It takes the elderflower sweetness and the sour lemon flavors down a bit, and keeps them from overpowering. It also leaves just a touch of a lingering aftertaste. Not bad, but it’s there. I’m curious to see if that is a result of the champagne quality vs. the inherent qualities of the champagne itself.

The finish, as mentioned before, is a mixture of the elderflower, lemon and the champagne. Only the champagne lingers, and even then, it isn’t a bad thing that it takes it’s time leaving your taste buds alone. It’s crisp and refreshing, and a great summer drink, celebration cocktail, or if you just wanna indulge yourself and pop a bottle of champagne for no reason.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)