Ivy & Eve Champagne-rita

Last weekend we had a family get-together to watch some Sunday Night Football. We made Mexican food and wanted to try and make a bubbly cocktail to go with the feast. Right then and there, the Ivy & Eve Champagne-rita was born.

At first we were apprehensive about mixing sparkling wine with anything, let alone tequila! We shuddered at the thought of wasting sparkling wine, in the event that the concoction tasted awful. Luckily, we ended up LOVING it so much we are making it a signature Ivy & Eve cocktail from now on (we knew it was good when Ivy, who cringes at the thought of a shot of tequila, sipped on hers rather quickly). We hope you try it out and let us know what you think!

Tip: Sip slowly as this has quite a bit of alcohol (about 1/2 a glass of champers and 1 shot of tequila). 

xxx Ivy & Eve

Makes one drink.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of a lime

• 2 tsp agave syrup

• 1 shot (1.5 oz.) tequila

• Ice

• Champagne or other brut sparkling wine

Directions:

1. In a tall glass, juice 1/2 of a lime and add the agave syrup, tequila, and a few ice cubes. Stir until cold. 

2. Pour the mixture into a champagne flute.

3. Top with Champagne of your favorite bottle of bubbles.

4. Garnish with a twist of lime.

5. Enjoy!

Autumn Champagne Cocktail

We love champage, and by now you probably know we LOVE autumn, so what better than combining two things we can't live without?! We love drinking champagne on its own but sometimes it's fun to spruce it up a bit and make a champagne cocktail. With all the autumn festivities going on, we started brainstorming cocktail ideas. Quickly, we narrowed it down to something with champagne and then decided to pair it with the quintessential fall apple cider. We are pretty happy with the results and it takes 5 minutes or less to make! This cocktail is perfect for any fall gathering and screams to be served during Thanksgiving dinner. 

xxx Ivy & Eve

Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of brut champagne or sparkling wine (we used Charles Ninot Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc)

• 1 jug apple cider

• Caramel sauce (we used this Torani caramel sauce)

• Small plate of brown sugar for rimming

• Your favorite bitters (we used Angostura)

Directions:

1. Drizzle the caramel sauce on champagne flute rim.

2. Turn over the flute and roll the rim in the brown sugar.

3. Add a dash of bitters.

4. Pour about 1.5 oz (one shot) of apple cider into the champagne flute.

5. Pop that champagne!

6. Pour champagne into flute, fill to brim.

Cheers!

Pop Fizz Clink Repeat: DIY Champagne Flutes

Its FriYAY, time for a restorative glass of champagne!

We received these cute confetti glasses a few months back and take them out any time we pop open a bottle of bubbly. The only down side of these glasses is that we only have two! So we decided to make similarly festive flutes to go along with them whenever we have gatherings. Its super easy to make your own and we suggest you run out and get the supplies (only two things!) you need for this fun and glitzy craft! Once you make these babies, you will be inviting everyone over for a restorative glass of champagne! 

xxx Ivy & Eve

P.S. We got our favorite motto from our only reality tv guilty pleasure, Made In Chelsea. Mark Frances is our spirit animal. :)

Above: Marc Frances preaches the good word of Saint Dom (Perignon)

Materials:

Champagne flutes (we purchased ours at Bevmo)

Gold glass paint marker (available at most craft stores, here is the one we used)

Steps:

1. Clean flute surfaces with glass cleaner.
2. Shake glass paint marker well.
3. Write on flutes: "Pop", "Fizz", "Clink", "Repeat".
4. Allow glasses to dry in a ventilated area for 8 hours.
5. Once dry, bake in oven at 375° F for 40 minutes in non-preheated oven.
6. Let flutes cool in open oven.
7. You are now ready for a restorative glass of champagne! 

Note: glasses are dishwasher safe.

Champagne Friday: Champagne Cocktail Edition

First off, Happy Champagne Friday!!! We have all successfully made it through another week and WE think that is grounds for celebration! 

If you want to dress up your Friday bubbles, but still want it to taste like sparkling wine, a classic Champagne Cocktail is the perfect solution. This simple yet chic cocktail is always well received. Our first memory of this classy glass is of post-shopping lunches with our parents in San Francisco's Neiman Marcus Rotunda Restaurant. They would always start off the lunch with this festive drink. We were, of course, too young (darn!) to partake in the toast back then, but the fond memories have stayed with us. The classic way to make this cocktail is to add a few drops of Angostura aromatic bitters to a bought sugar cube, and pour in the bubbles. Our house never has sugar cubes on hand (who's does?) so we decided one day to make our own. On a whim, we tried adding the bitters to the sugar mix and they turned out splendidly! We hope you enjoy them as much as we do and create your own fond memories. 

Cheers! 

xxx Ivy & Eve

Aromatic Bitters Sugar Cubes

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tablespoon Angostura aromatic bitters (or specialty bitters like Bar Cart Cocktail Co. Summer Bitters)

Silicone sugar cube tray (found here on Amazon)

1.     In a bowl, combine the sugar and 1/2 of the bitters. Mix until the bitters are evenly distributed and all sugar is colored. Add more bitters as needed. You want the sugar to be damp, not wet.

2.     Pack the sugar mixture into the silicone cube tray.

3.     Microwave for 30 second intervals until hot and steamy.  (All microwaves are different but we usually cook ours for two 30-second intervals).

4.     Let cool and dry.

Store your cubes in an airtight tin or baggie.

Champagne Cocktail

Makes 2 cocktials

1 bottle brut sparkling wine chilled (such as Charles Ninot Blanc De Blancs which is a tasty basic, whose flavor is enhanced by the additions below)

2 champagne flutes

2 lemon peel twists

2 or more aromatic bitters sugar cubes

1.     Add 1-2 aromatic bitters sugar cubes to each flute

2.     Slowly fill the flutes with sparkling wine. The sugar cubes will cause the sparkling wine to fizz extra so pour slowly to make sure there are no spillage!

3.     Top with a lemon twist

4.     Cheers!