Hi friends!
I’ve missed you. Seriously. If you’ve found me on Instagram or Facebook, then you know I’m still alive. If you haven’t found me in either of these places (yet), I’m sorry if I’ve been worrying you.
Although I haven’t been posting lately, I have still been working on this here blog and basically trying to teach myself as I go along. I must not be as computer-savvy as I thought because it took me (not kidding) multiple hours to figure out how to even create my own header!! Please tell me I’m not the only one with this problem? And if any of you out there have any words of wisdom you would like to share, I’m all ears! Blogger friends please help. We can discuss over mimosas?
Guys, I am REALLY excited to share this recipe with you. It is super easy and super delicious AND…my dad came up with this idea. There, I said it. But it only seems fitting to give him due credit because he is, after all, the main gene source for my culinary creativity. That man is amazing.
Have you guys ever heard of a Harvey Wallbanger? I’m pretty sure it had it’s heyday back in like, the 70’s (I only say this because my aunt has some pretty funny stories about enjoying these when she was younger, but we’ll have to save those for later.) I myself became familiar with the drink in the form of a deliciously boozy bundt cake my mom made growing up, complete with all of the famous cocktail’s ingredients. I know technically the booze bakes out of the cake in the process but just the glaze itself had plenty of a kick! I guess I developed my taste for delicious cocktails early on 😉
Anyhow, Chris and I headed up to my parents’ house in Santa Cruz the other weekend for a belated Easter celebration (I had to work on the actual holiday…boooo) and of course, being the family that we are, we had to start “Easter” morning with mimosas. So as we’re standing there chatting, enjoying the first few sips, my dad pipes up and says “I wonder what a Harvey Wallbanger Mimosa would taste like?” He then proceeds to go grab the Galliano out of the liquor cabinet and let’s just say it didn’t take us long to realize that this was a REALLY good thing.
A traditional Harvey Wallbanger is made with vodka, Galliano and orange juice. We just swapped the vodka for sparkling wine and, voila! The Harvey Wallbanger Mimosa was born.
A couple of tips for this drink in particular as well as bubbly opening/pouring/drinking in general:
- When opening a bottle of bubbles, remove the foil but be sure to leave the cage on the cork. This is an extra safety measure but many people don’t know about it.
- Once you have removed the foil, you want to slowly twist the bottle with one hand while holding the cork with the other hand. The goal is not, as many people think, to open the bottle with a huge POP. In Sommelier training, you are told that the opening of the bottle should be “no louder than a nun’s fart in church.” Bet you didn’t know that, huh?
- Our favorite “house” sparkling wine is a cava (Spanish sparkling wine) called Segura Viudas Brut Reserva. We usually get about two cases of this at a time (we have some connections) but each bottle is under $10 apiece. A great deal for everyday bubbles!
- When pouring the bubbly into your glass for this cocktail, do so slowly, while tilting the glass. This will help prevent a “bubble over.” These bubbles are not to be wasted!
These Harvey Wallbanger Mimosas are a cut above your favorite brunch libation. They taste just like the classic cocktail!
- 1 ounce Galliano
- 4 ounces sparkling wine Segura Viudas is the household favorite!
- 2 ounces orange juice
- Layer Galliano, then sparkling wine, then orange juice in a champagne glass. Pour each ingredient in slowly or the drink might overflow!
P.S. I just had to include a photo of my favorite new shirt with this post. If you want one too, head on over to the everfitte shop on Etsy!
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