French•drink•beginner

Classic Champagne Cocktail (Sugar Cube & Bitters)

Name: Classic Champagne Cocktail (Sugar Cube & Bitters)
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 sugar cube (about 4 g); 2 ml Angostura bitters; 120 ml well-chilled brut Champagne (or quality dry sparkling wine); 1 strip lemon peel (3–5 cm), for garnish; Optional: 10 ml VS or VSOP cognac

A retro-glam New Year’s toast: brut bubbles, bitters-soaked sugar cube, and a citrus kiss in a chilled flute.

VegetarianVeganGluten-FreeDairy-Free🥜Nut-Free

Chilled flute of Champagne cocktail with a fizzing sugar cube and lemon twist on a marble bar.

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

- min

Total Time

5 min

Servings

Picture a glittering New Year’s toast in a Belle Époque salon: velvet drapes, the soft clink of crystal, and a single sugar cube catching light like a tiny chandelier. This classic Champagne Cocktail is retro glamour in a flute—elegant, minimal, and just cheeky enough to turn a simple pop into a celebration.

Rooted in 19th-century café culture and immortalized in golden-age Hollywood, it’s proof that a few perfect details—bubbles, bitters, and citrus perfume—can outshine the fanciest bar cart. Choose a brut Champagne (or a top-notch dry sparkling), keep everything ice-cold, and let the sugar cube perform its fizzy magic.

Insider tip: the cube isn’t just for sweetness—it acts as a bubble stage, sending streams of sparkle upward. Don’t stir; the pour does the mixing. And that lemon twist? It’s your aromatic spotlight—express the oils and watch the room lean in.

Ingredients

Keep everything well-chilled—the colder the glass and wine, the finer the bubbles and balance.

1 sugar cube (about 4 g)
2 ml Angostura bitters
120 ml well-chilled brut Champagne (or quality dry sparkling wine)
1 strip lemon peel (3–5 cm), for garnish
Optional: 10 ml VS or VSOP cognac

Instructions

Build directly in a chilled flute so the bubbles stay lively and the sweetness stays poised.

1
Chill a Champagne flute and the bottle thoroughly (at least 30 minutes in the fridge).
2
Place the sugar cube on a spoon; saturate it with the Angostura bitters.
3
Drop the bitters-soaked cube into the chilled flute.
4
Optional: add 10 ml cognac to enrich body and warmth.
5
Tilt the glass and slowly pour in 120 ml Champagne, letting it foam gently. Do not stir.
6
Express the lemon peel over the surface to release oils; rub the rim, then drop it in or discard. Serve immediately.

Chef's Tip

Use a demerara sugar cube for caramel depth, and pour at a 45° angle to preserve bubbles. Never stir—let the effervescence integrate the drink.

Fun Fact

The Champagne Cocktail appears in Jerry Thomas’s 1862 bar guide and is now an IBA classic—one of the earliest sparkling wine cocktails on record.

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