The Champagne To Guest Ratio You Need For Your Next Mimosa Brunch
How do you host a lively weekend brunch party without including bright and sparkling mimosas? Alongside pancetta and cilantro quiche and a tasty breakfast pizza, the popular combination of fresh orange juice and bubbly Champagne makes for enjoyable, easy-to-drink cocktails for guests to sip on from morning to afternoon. However, deciding how much Champagne you'll need for an entire breakfast-inspired hangout can be a challenging task.
Food Republic asked Ronnie Ruffalo, co-owner and director of food and beverage at Disco Pancake in Chicago, Illinois, for his expert tips. According to Ruffalo, "This depends on the size of the group, but a general rule is to have one bottle for every guest. For larger gatherings ... consider having two bottles per person!" A 750-milliliter bottle of Champagne can make anywhere between six to eight mimosas, but giving your guests the freedom to make their own drinks may drastically change this predicted ratio.
You also need to factor in the time of day a typical brunch party takes place. When you host a get-together earlier in the day, what you assumed would be a simple two-hour brunch could easily extend to five hours or more. Since brunch doesn't always have a distinct start and end time, ensuring you have enough refreshments is essential. More importantly, as the host, the last thing you want is to run out of sparkling wine halfway through brunch. Since mimosas are quite simple to make and customizable, one drink may be made with more Champagne (or juice) than the next.
A successful brunch party includes a fun assortment of drinks
While you can rely on basic math to determine how many mimosas you can make with one bottle of Champagne, if you don't have a bartender carefully measuring and pouring, you may run out of Champagne before noon. While many standard mimosa recipes recommend a juice-to-Champagne ratio of 1:1, just as many claim a 1:3 ratio is best. However, mimosas are light, refreshing, and easy to drink. By offering your guests a variety of additional mix-ins, you may be able to better ration the alcohol provided.
Give your guests a wide range of juice options, including varieties like grapefruit, cranberry, pomegranate, and pineapple. Bowls of berries and labeled herbs such as thyme, mint, and lavender allow guests to further customize their individual refreshments. For more unconventional mix-ins, consider flavored syrups, freshly grated nutmeg, or candied ginger.
Still, if you're offering mimosas as the only alcoholic drink, you can safely assume your guests will have two to three drinks each. Why not cover all your bases and give your guests the freedom to enjoy alcohol-free alternatives like sparkling water, ginger ale, or non-alcoholic sparkling wine? While it's wise to follow Ronnie Ruffalo's advice and stick with one to two bottles of Champagne per person, offering your guests a variety of options is always a good idea.