Gastronomista: Cocktail Friendsgiving with G.H. Mumm Champagne

This year I'm starting a new tradition - Cocktail Friendsgiving on Thanksgiving Eve. It's a perfect night to get together with some of your favorite people, drink a few cocktails, pop a few bottles of bubbly, with the luxury of having the entire next day to nurse your hangover with turkey, gravy, and football. Genius, I say.

Just like any Friendsgiving, my boozy version is based on the flavors of a thanksgiving meal; sweet, savory, and autumnal.

Start the evening out with an aperitif, a glass of cold G.H. Mumm Grand Cordon Champagne. There is truly nothing better than a glass of champagne at the beginning of cocktail hour; bright, effervescent, with flavors of peach, pineapple, apricot, honey, and vanilla caramel. Nothing. Better.

For extra holiday flair, make a wine bucket out of frozen cranberries, a beautiful display that plays double duty by keeping your bubbly cold! Don't forget to make a new one for Thanksgiving - it will be sure to earn you extra points at the dinner table!

For the first cocktail I'm serving an herbaceous cocktail made with Träkál (an apple and pear brandy based spirit infused with the essential oils of herbs, berries, and botanicals found only in Patagonia), triple sec, Peychaud's Bitters, and topped with champagne. Träkál has a unique flavors of anise, mint, red summer berries, sage, lemon, orange, and a bright spicy finish - it's incredibly savory - and all those bright fruity flavors of the spirit pair beautifully with the fruit forward flavors of the champagne. Garnish this cocktail with apple slices and a sprig or two of fresh herbs to compliment the cocktail.

Magellanin
Created by Gastronomista

1 oz Träkál
1/2 oz Triple Sec
Top with G.H. Mumm Grand Cordon Champagne
4 dashes Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a low ball glass with fresh ice. Garnish with apple slices and fresh herbs.

The second course is based on a cocktail I had many years ago, a cocktail created by the one and only David Wondrich. The cocktail is called the Corn Goddess, and was one of those cocktails that blew my mind early on in my booze blogging days, it was sweet yet savory, and was made with unexpected ingredients - tomatoes and corn. Yes, you read that right, corn. I modified the recipe a little bit by adding a bit of fresh chili to the recipe to give it a bit of kick - just add more or less chili to the mix based on your preference for spice. And of course, top it off with a bit of Champagne, because Friendsgiving.

Chicomecoatl
Modified by Gastronomista

1 oz Gin
1-1/2 oz Campari
2 T Fresh Corn Kernels
2 Cherry Tomatoes Cut in Half
1/4 Sliced Chili Pepper
Top with G.H. Mumm Grand Cordon Champagne

In a cocktail tin muddle the corn, tomatoes and chili pepper. Add gin, Campari, and ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail coupe, top with champagne and garnish with a fresh sage leaf.

My final course in my cocktail Friendsgiving is a simple champagne cocktail made with cranberry bitters and topped with sugared fresh cranberries. (Pro Tip: candied cranberries are insanely delicious and addictive. Make a whole bag and set them out for snacking). I wanted to make a cocktail that had the bright, sweet flavors of cranberry without being too syrupy, something that would taste fresh at the end of this cocktail flight.

Cranberry Champagne Cocktail
Created by Gastronomista

1 small sugar cube
10 dashes Cranberry Bitters
4 oz G.H. Mumm Grand Cordon Champagne

Thoroughly coat a sugar cube with Cranberry Bitters, and place at the bottom of a champagne flute. Top with Champagne, add a few fresh cranberries, and rest a cocktail pick with three sugared cranberries on the top of the glass.

Sugared Cranberries
Recipe from My Recipes.com

2 Cups Fresh Cranberries
2 Cups White Sugar
2 Cups Water
1 Cup Superfine Sugar

Heat sugar and water in a pot until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool. In a non-reactive container combine fresh cranberries with the simple syrup, and place in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, roll the cranberries in sugar and let dry for one hour.

Finish off the evening with a few more glasses of champagne, takeout (because who wants to cook the night before Thanksgiving?!), and a few laughs before you have to be on good behavior for Aunt Mildred.