One of the things any historian quickly learns is to never assume and to take nothing for granted.
A couple of weeks ago, scrounging around the pantry and liquor cabinet for ideas that might step up a nightcap glass of sparkling wine into something a bit more celebratory, the bottle of bitters, a standard element of many a worthy champagne cocktail, naturally caught my attention.
But a dash of bitters was hardly going to do the job all on its own. What else could be added to really make it special? And there it was, a new bottle of Grand Marnier from Christmas. Orange, bitters, and sparkles: Perfect.
And it was lovely.
Pretty certain I'd not come up with anything original, I did a little research and it turned out that the cocktail I'd stumbled onto was a classic that had been around for a very long time. But far from being disappointed, that my instincts had led me to an old classic was reassuring.
Face it: people have been holding food over a fire for thousands of years, and mixing drinks with spirits ever since we figured out how to distill them. There's very little that's new under the sun. If you've come up with a combination that no one's ever thought of before, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, there's a reason.
It didn't matter that someone else came up with my idea a long, long time before I did. What mattered (and, really, all that ever does) was that it was lovely and lifted our spirits.
Classic Grand Marnier Champagne Cocktail
Add a little brandy and you'll have a "Grand 75." Woohoo.
Serves 2
2 ounces (4 tablespoons or ¼ cup) Grand Marnier
Angostura bitters
8-10 ounces chilled champagne or other dry sparkling wine
2 orange zest twists, optional
1. Put 3-4 ice cubes in a chilled glass or cocktail shaker. Add the liqueur and 8-10 drops/dashes of bitters. Stir or cover and shake to blend and chill.
2. Strain it into two chilled champagne flutes and fill with champagne. If liked, twist an orange zest over the top of each and then either discard it, or use it to garnish each glass.