su-Aatxe Aperitivo (Sparkling Cava Cocktail) Image

Photo: Thomas J. Story

Yields Makes 1 drink Total Time 5 mins
AuthorMorgan Schick, The Bon Vivants, San Francisco

Morgan Schick of San Francisco's Bon Vivants cocktail consultants created this cocktail for Aatxe ("Ah-chay") restaurant, also in San Francisco. A twist on the classic Champagne cocktail, it's made with cava (Spanish sparkling wine) and pacharán liqueur. Pacharán (spelled "patxaran" in the Basque language) is similar to sloe gin--both are made from sloe berries, the dime-size fruit of the blackthorn shrub--but it's less sweet, and is usually made with anise liqueur rather than gin.

How to Make It

Step 1
1

Drop sugar cube into a champagne flute. Shake bitters onto sugar and pour in pacharán. Cut a wide strip of orange zest from an orange with a vegetable peeler and twist it to release its oils. Drop into glass, then fill with cava.

Step 2
2

*Order pacharan, also spelled patxaran, from winedelight.com. Sloe gin is widely available in liquor stores, but Schick particularly likes the sloe gin from Spirit Works Distillery, in Sebastopol, CA.

Ingredients

 1 sugar cube
 10 dashes Peychaud's bitters
 1 ounce (2 tbsp.) Pacharán or sloe gin*
 1 orange
  About 6 oz. brut cava (Spanish sparkling wine) or Prosecco

Directions

Step 1
1

Drop sugar cube into a champagne flute. Shake bitters onto sugar and pour in pacharán. Cut a wide strip of orange zest from an orange with a vegetable peeler and twist it to release its oils. Drop into glass, then fill with cava.

Step 2
2

*Order pacharan, also spelled patxaran, from winedelight.com. Sloe gin is widely available in liquor stores, but Schick particularly likes the sloe gin from Spirit Works Distillery, in Sebastopol, CA.

Aatxe Aperitivo (Sparkling Cava Cocktail)

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