The recipe for a cocktail made with Champagne, sugar, and bitters appeared in the first 1862 edition of Jerry Thomas’s How to Mix Drinks or the Bon Vivant’s Companion. The original recipe illustrates the simplest incarnation of the cocktail in general: spirits or wines mixed with sugar, bitters, and water. Over the years, some recipes for the Champagne Cocktail called for the addition of brandy or cognac for a stronger kick and bigger body. But no matter what goes into it, the drink has always been the choice of prominent and well-heeled U.S. citizens because champagne commands a lofty price and is a status symbol in America. We at Employees Only choose to make this cocktail with Curaçao, specifically Grand Marnier. We find that it adds more flavor notes and blends more effortlessly than does cognac. It’s a misconception that one must use the finest Champagne in this cocktail. Please do not destroy a masterful tête de cuvee with bitters and sugar. Use a well-rounded nonvintage brut, which has the bones for such a cocktail.

Ingredients

　　1/2 ounce Grand Marnier

　　5 ounces brut champagne, chilled

　　1 raw brown sugar cube

　　4 or 5 dashes Angostura bitters

　　1 lemon twist

　　Pour the Grand Marnier into a champagne flute and slowly top it off with the chilled champagne. Place the sugar cube on a bar spoon and saturate it with the bitters. Carefully drop the cube into the flute. Twist the lemon peel over the drink, then discard.

　　Reprinted with permission from Speakeasy: The Employees Only Guide to Classic Cocktails Reimagined by Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric, © 2010 Ten Speed Press. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.