2017 – what a year!
Cavalier.
It’s been three years this week since I started this blog so I thought I’d celebrate with my own variation of the Champagne Cocktail which we talked about a wee while ago. Basically I realised that I liked my Champagne Cocktail with orange bitters instead of Angostura and then proceeded to just slightly change every other ingredient too. So we have maple syrup instead of sugar, an orange horse’s neck instead of lemon and brut (dry) cava instead of Champagne. Now, while we’re on the subject I have a little tip for you on picking your bubbles. Mostly sparkling wines don’t have a year on the label which allows the producer a certain flexibility as they can mix the wines from different harvests to maintain a consistent flavour. However, if they have had a particularly good year they can’t help themselves but bottle it separately with a certain pride. Hence a production year on your cava or Champagne (or perhaps other types of bubbles) should be considered a good sign. For obvious reasons I couldn’t resist a 2017 for my anniversary Cavalier and rather tasty is was too!
The Cavalier is simplicity in itself to prepare and therefore very suitable for serving to a small gathering. Chill your glasses in the fridge for a couple of hours first – I know I really don’t need to tell you guys this anymore but there might be some newbies here. In each glass place one teaspoon of maple syrup and three dashes of orange bitters (Regan’s being a good choice). When it’s time to serve insert an orange horse’s neck into each glass and top up (gently) with your chilled cava. To insure mixing gently insert a mixing spoon down to the bottom of the glass and twist for a couple of slow rotations to get the maple and bitters flowing.
