Mimosa

A very easy to make Champagne and Orange Juice cocktail, the Mimosa creates a good excuse to have a drink before noon (or any time of day really). The classic brunch cocktail, start the day with plenty of vitamin C and a Mimosa.

Like a lot of other quick and easy Sparkling Wine based cocktails, be sure to use the proper measurements rather than just making it up as you go along. This way you can keep track of how much of each ingredient you like so you can make the same thing in the future.

Total Time 3

Servings 1 batch

Ingredients

1 bottle Champagne or any sparkling wine
750 mL Orange Juice

Instructions

Combine Orange Juice and Champagne in equal parts in Champagne glasses.
Serve

Notes

As with other cocktails with Sparkling Wine, you can swap out the Champagne for other sparkling varieties. Champagne has a very specific taste, however, and will go much better in a Mimosa. Whatever you choose, just because you're combining it with Orange Juice doesn't mean you should use a cheap Champagne. A good Champagne (or other sparkling) will make this simple drink so much more.

A Few More Thoughts on the Mimosa

Although extremely simple, the Mimosa is a a very well known cocktail. It’s also very easy to make. For whatever reason, Champagne and Orange Juice just work extremely well together. The recipes is almost equal parts of the two ingredients, so the drink basically just balances itself out. The Mimosa is refreshing and almost guilt free because of its relatively low alcohol and high amounts of Vitamin C!

Can I just make Mimosas in a jug rather than combining into glasses?

This works just as well as pouring everything into glasses, perhaps even better. Just pour your bottle of Champagne and 750 mL of OJ into a jug and gently stir everything together. If you want to make an even bigger batch of Mimosas, just increase the amount of everything. It’s very easy to scale this recipe.

Can I prepare Mimosas in advance to serve later?

It’s always the fresher the better with Mimosas because you want the Champagne to stay carbonated. If the cocktail isn’t fresh, you’ll lose the bubbles! If you’re expecting company and want to make a jug of Mimosas a few minutes in advance, that’s more than fine, just don’t let them sit much longer.

What’s the perfect time to have a Mimosa?

Everyone knows that the Mimosa is the ultimate brunch cocktail! It’s one of the few drinks that it’s socially acceptable to have in the morning; there’s a few more out there, but the high amount of fruit juice and lower alcohol volume of this drink doesn’t make it look to terrible to have in the morning. That being said, some people hit the Mimosas pretty hard over brunch! As mentioned, this cocktail is about equal parts Champagne and Orange Juice, so each glass is about half a glass of Champagne. Not too much, but if you have a whole bunch of them. Well…

Other than brunch, a Mimosa does well at other times where drinking isn’t usually acceptable but used as an excuse to have a drink. Although drinking in the early afternoon isn’t strictly taboo, it’s usually not seen as a good idea unless you’re having lunch or it’s some kind of “event.” Having a few quiet Mimosas in the afternoon sun with friends removes all the other excuses you need to enjoy some Champagne earlier in the day.

Finally, the Mimosa is also a lovely picnic cocktail. It’s refreshing and light and generally does well outdoors. All in all it’s a very versatile cocktail. Enjoy it!

How strong is the Mimosa?

It’s actually quite light in alcohol. As mentioned, the recipe is approximately half Orange Juice, half Champagne, which means that a full Mimosa is really only about half a glass of Champagne. Champagne usually comes in around 12% ABV, so half of that is about 6%: stronger than most beers of course, but it’s a much smaller serving!

Once again as mentioned though, some people like to very much indulge themselves when it comes to Mimosas over brunch. It’s easy with such a tasty cocktail! This may be even more difficult if you’re at a brunch venue doing bottomless Mimosas! While this may be fun, it’s unlikely they’re using good Champagne for their cocktail. It will still taste OK, just not nearly as good as the real thing.

Feel free to indulge on the cheap stuff, but make sure to make a batch of these with your own bottle of the good stuff. You’ll really taste the difference!

What kind of music does the Mimosa represent?

We’re not sure it represents anything really… there’s a certain elegance to the Mimosa that suggests string quartets playing at garden parties, but perhaps that’s more of a Champagne feeling than a specifically Mimosa feeling. We’re not sure!

Staying with the whole brunch thing, we need a kind a music that they play at brunch. Of course this will depend on a given brunch place. Restaurants who serve brunch are generally a little bit nicer and play their background music quietly and unobtrusively; it’s often hard to remember what kind of music they’re playing!

So we’ll give you some homework to find out the best music to listen to while having a Mimosa. Go to your local brunch restaurant, have brunch (and maybe a Mimosa or two), and take note of what music they’re playing. If you’re having brunch with friends and having a good time, perhaps that’s the best music to go with a Mimosa!

If you’re looking for more cocktail recipes, we can help you out

Our website is just full of cocktail recipes, we have plenty for you to browse through! We’ve arranged the site into different sections for you to easily browse through. Feel free to browse normally, or take a look at some of the lists below:

Top 15 simple cocktail recipes: this if a list of our favourite simple cocktails (three ingredients or fewer). Like the Mimosa, these cocktail recipes are very simple and easy to make!

All simple cocktail recipes: if fifteen recipes isn’t enough for you, we have plenty more! Go ahead and browse away!