How to Make the Best Mimosa

My best tips for making mimosas! What’s better to serve at brunch than a fabulous mimosa recipe made with dry sparkling wine and orange juice? Jump to the Mimosa Recipe

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Mimosa Recipe Video

How to Make the Best Mimosa at Home

Mimosas are a delicious combination of sparkling wine, and orange juice. They are simple, fun, and perfect to serve to company. Read on to see our tips for making them best including the right ratio and best wine to buy.

Easy Mimosa

The Ingredients

Since there are only a few ingredients required to make mimosa cocktails, I like to make sure they are high in quality. To make mimosas, you will need:

  • Sparkling wine
  • Orange Juice
  • Optional extras like vodka, Grand Marnier, Chambord, and even whiskey

How to Choose Sparkling Wine for Mimosas

I like to use a dry sparkling wine, not sweet. Use the wine that you like the taste of. You don’t need to break the bank, though. We spend $12 to $15 on the sparkling wine we add to our mimosas.

Your best bet is to look for “Cava,” which comes from Spain or an American sparkling wine that’s around $15.

A dry Prosecco is a great option, too. Unless you’ve found something you absolutely love, don’t go lower than $10 since that can lead to headache central.

For the Best Mimosa, Use Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

If you can swing it, use freshly squeezed orange juice. It seems over the top, but when you consider half the drink is juice, you want the best.

Freshly squeezed orange juice tastes fresher, lighter, a bit tart, and more delicate than anything you can find in the store. With that said, when we’re in a pinch, we’ll use the “Simply” brand of orange juice.

The Perfect Ratio

A classic mimosa recipe calls for equal parts sparkling wine to orange juice. While we think this ratio tastes the best, if we’re serving a crowd for brunch, we do hold back the wine a little. You can increase the wine, too. Just remember these will pack more of a punch.

When you’re making a mimosa, always add the sparkling wine first, then top with orange juice.

This way, the cocktail mixes on its own and won’t make a sticky mess at the top of the glass. You don’t need to stir as this will cause the wine to become flat.

Making Them for a Crowd

Since sharing how we make mimosas, many of our readers have asked how to make mimosas for a crowd. You can make mimosas in a pitcher.

Premix mimosas in a pitcher just before your guests arrive. Don’t do this too far in advance, because you will lose some carbonation.

Whether you premix or make the mimosas one by one, make sure the wine and orange juice are well chilled. Keep the wine, orange juice, and if you added them to a pitcher, the pitcher in the refrigerator until your guests arrive.

Mimosa variations

The combination of orange juice and sparkling wine is amazing, but did you know that there are lots of variations for mimosas? Here are a few of my favorites:

  • Add a splash of cranberry, pineapple, or pomegranate juice.
  • Replace some of the orange juice with blood orange or grapefruit juice.
  • Add a tablespoon of peach or strawberry puree to the bottom of each champagne flute.
  • Add chopped fresh fruit like strawberries, blueberries, and orange slices.
  • Add a tablespoon of liqueur like Grand Marnier or Chambord (for a French-inspired mimosa).

Non-alcoholic (virgin) mimosas

For a mimosa mocktail, substitute the sparkling wine for a sparkling soda or flavored sparkling water. Non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice is a popular option. I also love flavored carbonated water.

There are so many flavors when it comes to sparkling water. Lime or lemon would be lovely or for a tropical feel, try coconut-flavored water with a splash of pineapple juice.

More Easy Cocktail Recipes

How to Make Our Favorite Red Sangria — You will love this classic sangria made with dry red wine, seasonal fruits, and brandy (optional).

St. Germain and Champagne — Another simple, yet show stopping sparkling wine cocktail.

Lemon Drop Martinis — We make lemon drops from scratch. Watch our video to see how.

Champagne Cosmopolitan Cocktails — these combine the classic comso cocktail and sparkling wine.

How to make a Perfect Kir Royale Cocktail with champagne and Crème de Cassis.

Recipe updated, originally posted December 2012. Since posting this in 2012, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. – Adam and Joanne

How to Make the Best Mimosa Recipe

How to Make the Best Mimosa

  • PREP
  • TOTAL

Mimosas are perfect for brunch, birthdays, holidays, and weddings. For the best mimosa, use a dry sparkling wine, not sweet. We usually will spend $12 to $15 on the sparkling wine we add to our mimosas. Your best bet is to look for “Cava,” which comes from Spain, or an American sparkling wine that’s around $15. A dry Prosecco is a great option, too.

Make 8 Servings

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

1 (750 ml) bottle chilled dry sparkling wine

3 cups (750 ml) chilled orange juice (freshly squeezed is best)

1/2 cup (120 ml) Grand Marnier, optional

Directions

    1Fill eight champagne flutes half full with chilled sparkling wine. Top with orange juice. If you are using it, add 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier to each glass.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • To make 1 mimosa cocktail: In a champagne flute, combine 1/3 cup chilled sparkling wine, 1/3 cup chilled orange juice and 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or triple sec.
  • Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Calories 156 / Protein 1 g / Carbohydrate 15 g / Dietary Fiber 0 g / Total Sugars 9 g / Total Fat 0 g / Saturated Fat 0 g / Cholesterol 0 g
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher

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76 comments… Leave a Review
  • Bob November 6, 2023, 10:01 pm

    I was staying with friends in Sicily and they made Italian version of mimosas with fresh blood oranges and an excellent sparkling Italian wine…darn it was good especially on a warm evening

    Reply

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