Mimosa Moments

Hey guys!  Did anyone else have as long a week as I did?  I'm in desperate need of a Friday night cocktail (and I'm pretty sure my 1.5 hours of cleaning the apartment after work totally justifies that).

Anyway, for this week's Mimosa Moments, I'm super excited because I totally invented this cocktail all by my self.  I was looking at some Betty Crocker cupcake recipes in one of those little recipe books they have by the checkout line in the grocery store (my kryptonite) and I saw a lovely recipe for an pineapple upside-down cupcake.  And it hit me.  I've had pineapple upside-down shots, and pineapple upside-down martinis, but I have never had a pineapple upside-down mimosa.  Pineapple mimosa, sure.  But a pineapple upside-down mimosa?  Never.  So I knew I had my cocktail post for the week.

So today after work (pre-cleaning), I bopped off to Harris Teeter for some much needed supplies:

Supplies:  Brut & Extra Dry, Marciano Cherries, Pineapple Juice, Brown Sugar, and Shaker 

 I got 2 types of champagne because, as I've never made such a beverage before, I wanted to experiment.  I got a Brut and an Extra Dry.  For those not in the know, Brut is very dry because it contains almost no sugar in it.  Extra dry, despite it's name, has a bit more sugar, and thus, a bit more sweetness.  (Don't I sound like an alcoholic the smartest person ever?  I just really like my champagne.)  As I mentioned last week, I love my Brut all by itself, but I figured hey, why not give it a try?

The Cocktail Mixing (I started with the Brut):

Maybe because I was inspired by my dinner from last Saturday, but I decided that pineapple + brown sugar= a match made in heaven.  So I put a little tiny bit of pineapple juice in a bowl and some brown sugar on the plate.  Then I rimmed the glass with brown sugar by dunking the rim of the glass in the pineapple juice and then rotating it in the sugar.

Like so.

Put a handful of ice in the shaker, and add 1 cherry, a little cherry juice (I added probably about 2 teaspoons for those like me who need exact measurements), and 3 ozs/ caps of shaker of pineapple juice.  Then shake that baby up hard!

Pour the wonderfulness of the shaker into the glass and then get that cherry out and put it into the glass.

Yep.  That's a good day right there

 Then add your champagne on top.  As I said I started with the Brut, and then moved onto the extra dry.

Brut 

Extra Dry

 The Results:

My theory that Brut should stand alone remains unchallenged.  All I could taste was the champagne (not a bad thing, but not what I was going for).  The extra dry, on the other hand, was a perfect match.  You could taste the pineapple, the cherry, the champagne, and the sugar, all in a delicious mix of heaven.  It tasted just like you would expect a pineapple-upside down mimosa would expect.  Even my boyfriend, who's not the biggest fan of sweet/girly drinks, said it was delicious and even asked for a second one.  That must mean it's good!

Lessons:

-Use extra dry champagne instead of Brut- it's the perfect balance of sweetness for the pineapple/cherry juice combo.
-Make this fabulous cocktail and even those who don't like sweet drinks will love it!
-The brown sugar elevates it to the next level.
-You should make this right now.  Like right now.


I hope you guys enjoyed this week's recipe!  What's your favorite cocktail recipe?  Or do you have any ideas for me to make for next week?  Comment below!

Have a happy Friday!

~K