St. Patrick’s Day is a celebration of all things Irish, even if you or any of your ancestors do not hail from the Emerald Isle. In truly American fashion, people in the U.S. have turned this holiday into a reason for general revelry, from street parades to eating corned beef (which isn’t actually an Irish tradition). Whether you’re hosting a soirée or just want to get into the spirit with a themed brunch for your inner circle, you have to serve up green mimosas. These festive cocktails are made with the traditional champagne and orange juice, then turned green with the addition of blue curaçao (no food dyes needed here, as with the McDonald’s Shamrock Shake).
Remember your primary colors? Red, blue, and yellow all mix to make every other hue on the color wheel. Orange juice tends to be a paler orange or a deeper yellow, so that mixed with the azure blue curaçao is what gives these mimosas their beautiful emerald glow. And the flavor profile of blue curaçao is also well-suited to mimosas, thanks to its orange-forward and slightly sweet taste. However, when mixed with champagne, this liqueur packs a punch with an ABV of around 25%, so be aware of that before you start imbibing.
How to make St. Paddy’s-ready green mimosas
The best part about these festive mimosas is that, at a base level, they’re composed of just the three aforementioned ingredients: orange juice, champagne or any sparkling wine (or even non-alcoholic sparkling wine), and blue curaçao, all chilled. You can really play around with the ratios, too, but a good place to start is 2.5 to 3 ounces of orange juice (doing our part to keep Tropicana financially solvent here), to half a tablespoon of blue curaçao, and then just enough bubbly to top off the glass. If you want a deeper green, by all means, add more blue curaçao — these are just suggested ratios.
Now, the obvious vessel for green mimosas is a champagne flute, which you can even get in plastic form, like these cocktail glasses from RestaurantWare, but if you don’t have any on hand, really anything will work, from a wine glass, to a coupe, to a lowball glass. This is especially true if you opt to personalize the celebratory drinks with fun green garnishes, like fresh mint sprigs, lime wedges, or Granny Smith apple slices. You can also skewer pieces of green candy, like just the green pieces of Sour Patch Kids, gummy sour green apples, or green apple-flavored sour belts, and rest them over the rim of your mimosas.
