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
Watch The 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.

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
- 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.
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
Great easy recipes love them
Interested in trying this…sounds delicious
Need direction about making good mimosa
Had them the morning after Christmas in Costa Rica while enjoying some Costa Rican Style breakfast. Everybody was crazy about the mimosas (they never tasted them before). I used Chilled Moscato D’ Asti and freshly squeezed orange juice straight from oranges I got straight from the trees (welcome to Costa Rica)- It was an awesome experience and a delicious drink.
Hi, I am going to make this in a pitcher do I just add the grand marnier when I add the wine and juice to the pitcher? Thank you
Yes, although for the best mimosas, I’d mix the orange juice and Grand Marnier in the pitcher and keep the sparkling wine separate. The longer the wine sits in the pitcher, the less bubbly it will be.
I have a question concerning using fresh squeezed orange juice in your recipe for Mimosas! Fresh oranges ARE noticably tarte or sweet or the both combined depending where the fresh oranges come from and the growing season climate the oranges were produced from! I would be horrified if the oranges that I used were not very good!
How can you pick the best best oranges for making fresh squeezed orange juice for my Mimosas? ?
Hi there, when choosing oranges, look for ones that are heavy for their size. I’d also skip any with blemishes or soft spots.
Your recipes look great! I`m looking forward to receiving them.Gerry
Made this recipe yesterday for brunch; topped with Grand Marnier. Perfect!
Simple to make. Was a big hit at a pot luck brunch.
I have someone who likes dark liquors… Any suggestions?
You could add a tiny splash of dark rum, tequila, or brandy.
Your style is unique in comparison to other people I’ve read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this site.
Hi! We have Mimosas every Christmas morning. THIS year, my brother brought over some freshly squeezed Blood Oranges. WOW! This was SO delish!
Delightfully simple, quick and easy recipe. I’ve had the pleasure of trying several of the suggestions and ‘chilled’ is absolutely required, anything the least bit warm is a disappointment.
Fresh squeezed orange juice is noticeably better but not sure why, and it adds to the preparation drama if you have an audience. Triple Sec seems to provide a hint of dryness that fits the drink very well.
Thanks for the recipe.
How about using a few dashes of agusta bitters (spelling nor correct) instead of the liquer?
Many thanks Joyce
We’ve never tried this, but it should be tasty.
Made this yesterday. Used the Verdi Spumante, a Pulp-free Orange Juice, and no Triple sec. It was absolutely delicious!