Champagne Bar
A build-your-own champagne bar with sparkling wine, mixers, syrups and garnishes, so guests can pour exactly the glass they want. One bottle pours four glasses.
Ingredients
- 1 bottle champagne and/or prosecco
- 1 bottle gin
- 1 bottle vodka
- 1 bottle St. Germain elderflower liqueur
- 1 bottle juice (orange, pomegranate, and cranberry)
- 1 pack pop rocks candy
- 1 can seltzer
- 1 glass simple syrup (made with honey, ginger, and rosemary)
- garnishes
- fresh herbs (mint and rosemary)
- fresh fruit (pomegranate arils, citrus, and berries)
- raw turbinado sugar
- sorbet
- decorative ice cubes made with juice and herbs
Instructions
- Chill the sparkling wine and juices thoroughly — three to four hours in the refrigerator, or thirty minutes in a bucket of ice and water.
- Slice the citrus, rinse the berries, seed the pomegranate and prepare the herb sprigs. This can be done the morning of and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- Choose a surface away from the kitchen and away from the food, and set out the glassware first.
- Arrange left to right in the order a guest would use them: glasses, sparkling wine, spirits, juices and syrups, then garnishes at the end.
- Set the bottles on a riser or cake stand so the bar reads from across the room, and label the syrups.
- Add a small card with two or three suggested combinations so the uncertain guest has somewhere to start.
- Keep the bottles in ice and refill the garnish bowls through the evening.
Notes
One bottle pours four glasses — count the glasses rather than the guests, then buy one more bottle than the maths says. Garnishes can be prepared the morning of and kept covered in the refrigerator. Pour sparkling wine down the side of a tilted glass to keep it from foaming over.