While mimosas are frequently served at brunches and formal breakfasts, you can enjoy a mimosa drink at any time of the day. Made by mixing orange juice with Champagne, this cocktail is perfect for when you've got to provide for a big crowd and you're running low on time. Take a look at a few of the best mimosa recipes and get some inspiration for how you might to want to experiment with the drink's formula later on down the road.
Classic Mimosa
The quintessential mimosa is made by mixing orange juice and Champagne together and can be garnished with an orange wedge. Make sure to either squeeze your own orange juice or buy 100% orange juice as it'll ensure you end up with the best tasting drink.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce 100% orange juice, chilled
- 2 ounces Champagne, chilled
- 1 orange wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a mixing glass, combine the orange juice and Champagne.
- Stir thoroughly with a cocktail spoon and pour the mixture into a chilled Champagne flute.
- Garnish with an orange wedge and serve.
Mimosa Pitcher
Given their perfect morning and mid-day ingredients, mimosas are a favorite choice for people to mix up in large batches to bring to parties and tailgates. This mimosa pitcher recipe will make you about twenty individual flute servings.
Ingredients
- ½ gallon 100% orange juice, chilled
- 1 750 mL bottle Champagne, chilled
- 1 orange, quartered
Instructions
- In a large pitcher, pour the orange juice and Champagne.
- Add the orange slices to the mixture and stir thoroughly.
- Refrigerate until time to serve.
Mimosa Variations
Since the mimosa is such a basic recipe, you have a lot of room to experiment with it. Add texture with fruit slices, new flavor combinations with syrups or sodas, and see which one ends up tasting the best.
Buck's Fizz
The precursor to the mimosa, a Buck's Fizz just adds grenadine to the original Mimosa recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon grenadine
- 1 ounce 100% orange juice, chilled
- 2 ounces Champagne, chilled
Instructions
- In a mixing glass, combine the grenadine, orange juice, and Champagne. Stir thoroughly.
- Pour the mixture into a chilled Champagne flute and serve.
Grand Mimosa
Add a little bit of Grand Marnier to the classic mimosa recipe, and you'll be having a grand time with your grand mimosa.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce 100% orange juice, chilled
- 1 ounce Grand Marnier, chilled
- 3 ounces Champagne, chilled
Instructions
- In a mixing glass, combine the orange juice, Grand Marnier, and Champagne.
- Stir thoroughly and pour the mixture into a chilled Champagne flute.
Peach Mimosa
Add a touch of peach schnapps to the original mimosa recipe and you'll have created a slightly sweeter, more summery drink for you and your friends to enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce 100% orange juice, chilled
- 1 ounce peach schnapps, chilled
- 3 ounces Champagne, chilled
Instructions
- In a mixing glass, combine the orange juice, peach schnapps, and Champagne.
- Stir thoroughly and pour the mixture into a chilled Champagne glass.
Apple Cider Mimosa
An apple cider mimosa is a perfect way to take a spring and summer cocktail and transform it to fit the autumnal months. Switch orange juice for apple juice and you have an easy drink to enjoy while carving pumpkins by the fire.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce 100% apple juice, chilled
- 2 ounces Champagne, chilled
- 1 apple slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a mixing glass, combine the apple juice and Champagne.
- Stir thoroughly and pour the mixture into a chilled Champagne glass.
Choosing Your Champagne
Choosing a Champagne that fits your budget and taste preferences might seem like a daunting task, especially considering there's so many different brands to choose from. You can even use a dry sprakling white wine, such as Spanish Cava or Italian Prosecco. Most restaurants and bars use brut Champagne or sparkling wine, which is more dry than sweet, to make their mimosas. Whether you want to follow in their footsteps with a dry wine or venture out with a sweeter one, these are some of the popular brands that you can choose from:
How the Mimosa Came to Be
The mimosa was one of the many famous cocktails that was first concocted in the 1920s, though there's some debate over its actual origins and its similarity to the 1921 cocktail, the Buck's Fizz. In 1925, the Paris Ritz Hotel served the first official mimosa, made out of only Champagne and orange juice. Inspired by the drink's colorful similarity to mimosa flowers, its creators quickly dubbed it the mimosa. Interestingly, there's a bit of a cultural divide when it comes to the mimosa, as Americas and mainland Europeans tend to refer to orange and Champagne cocktails as mimosas, while the British refer to them as a Buck's Fizz. Either way, these Prohibition cocktails are still being thoroughly enjoyed by brunch goers and tailgaters alike.
Breakfast, Brunch, and Everything In-Between
With its fruity and boozy mixture, mimosas are the number one pick of housewives and young adults because of how easily they go down with any morning meal. So, if you need a pick-me-up to get you through the long week ahead, put one of these delicious mimosa recipes to the test.
