DIY champagne cocktail bar perfect for holiday entertaining

For the cocktail lover, this season of festivities can be full of temptation. Specifically, the temptation to gift your friends and family with the fruits of your bibulous labors: to tinsel up the place, invite friends and start mixing craft cocktails.

But good cocktails take attention and focus, the very gifts you might prefer to bestow upon your guests.

When I spoke to bartending legend Dale DeGroff for a recent column, I asked him about what makes a great bartender. He emphasized that one of the keys is to get to know your recipes so well you don't even have to think about them, so you can make drinks and charm your guests at the same time.

He might as well have told me the key was taking a dose of unicorn powder every morning. Having driven the same commute for 10 years now, I arrive at work some mornings and cannot remember any of the details it took to get there, but the day I can cocktail on automatic pilot is still a long way off. For me, one of the worst moments of hosting a party is that early stage when guests arrive and want to catch up while I'm trying to focus on their drinks. The chances of someone receiving a Manhattan with a blue cheese-stuffed olive in it go up exponentially.

The classic (and excellent) solution to this mix-or-mingle stumper is to make punch, festive and convivial, the flowing bowl around which guests can gather. But it's not the only option. While a punch can be made before guests arrive, a DIY champagne cocktail bar brings the bubbles that lift so many winter celebrations and creates a shared activity for guests to socialize over. You don't want to be stuck churning out eight separate craft cocktails, but eight maids a-mixing is plain old fun.

What's more, this is a case where you don't need to use the greatest of wines. In fact, you shouldn't, because who wants to obscure a really wonderful champagne with other flavors? A decent brut-style sparkler will suffice.

An ideal setup would be a tallish roundtable allowing guests to gather and converse around it. Set out an assortment of liqueurs, mixers and garnishes, and an ice bucket in the middle to keep the champagne chilled. Keep the glasses chilled, too, if you have room in your freezer. Leave out a few recipes and let your guests enjoy themselves. The recipes should help the newbies feel more confident, while allowing the more adventurous to play around.

I've highlighted some options here, but there are many more champagne cocktails; if you have a favorite, bring it into the mix. You can go modest with a few liqueurs and mixers, or go big with a wider range. Most of the ones here result in a lovely range of holiday reds and golds. Just throw in some candles to catch their colors, and your drinks become part of your decor.

Champagne Cocktail: Many recipes for the champagne cocktail call for brandy, but you can leave it out if you want a drink that's lighter and highlights your chosen bubbly.

This version is adapted from “Cocktails: The Bartender's Bible,” by Simon Difford: Place a sugar cube in a small cup and drop 2 to 4 drops of Angostura bitters on it, so the cube is soaked. Add ½ to 1 ounce cognac or other good-quality brandy (optional) and the sugar cube to a flute and top with 3 ounces of chilled champagne or other brut-style sparkling white wine. Run a twist of lemon peel around the glass and drop it in.

Negroni Sbagliato: With bittersweet, appetite-stimulating Campari on board, this is a particularly good option if you're planning to feed people after they cocktail. “Sbagliato” is essentially Italian for “messed up” or “botched”; supposedly this drink was created when a bartender grabbed a bottle of champagne instead of gin while making a Negroni. The story may be a myth, but the drink is the real deal.

Jason Wilson's recipe, which first appeared in the fall 2007 issue of Imbibe magazine, starts with an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Add 1 ounce sweet vermouth and 1 ounce Campari, then top with 2 ounces of prosecco. Stir and garnish with a thin whole slice of orange.

French 75: The best of the classic sparkling-wine cocktails, this drink was created during World War I and named for a 75-millimeter French artillery gun, which should suggest that it is not as gentle a drink as it might first appear. The original recipe is reported to have used cognac, but it has become standard to use gin instead.

To create your own, with a recipe adapted from “The Bubbly Bar,” by Maria C. Hunt, fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add 1 ounce gin, ½ ounce fresh lemon juice, ¼ ounce simple syrup and 4 or 5 ounces brut champagne. Shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds, then strain into a champagne flute. Top with the champagne as needed, and garnish with a twist of lemon peel.

Kir Royale: Some people make this with Chambord, a raspberry liqueur. I'm not a fan, and it's not true to the drink's history; it evolved from a crème de cassis and white burgundy drink popularized by a French Catholic priest/resistance fighter named Felix Kir — an amusing origin for what's become known as a “girlie” drink. I'll take on the politics of “girlie drinks” when I have more space for yelling, but since you're throwing a party, this is a fun recipe to set your guests loose on. If you have other fruit liqueurs on hand, a dollop of apricot or pear is a nice variation.

Start by chilling a champagne flute. Pour in ½ ounce crème de cassis and 4 to 5 ounces chilled champagne.

Black Velvet: Possibly the weirdest of this bunch. I'm always surprised at how much I like drinking this Guinness-and-champagne beast. You'd think it would be a disaster, but the drink (created in London on the death of Prince Albert) just works; the yeastiness of the champagne and the dark, bready beer taste like an ode to carbs and carbonation. And it's a good one to include in case you have some folks who prefer a less sweet drink.

For a version adapted from “Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide and Ladies' Companion,” you'll need 3 to 4 ounces stout beer, preferably Guinness, and 3 to 4 ounces of champagne. Fill a champagne flute halfway full with the stout so that it has a foamy head. Gently add the champagne by pouring it over the back of a spoon and through the foam; this will create a visually pleasing effect as the champagne and beer mingle gradually in the flute.

Tips for setting up a holiday champagne bar:

• You'll want enough champagne flutes for all your guests and buckets of ice to chill the champagne in advance.

• Along with glassware, depending on the size of your party, you'll need several jiggers for measuring so guests aren't waiting too long for each other to finish making drinks.

• Depending on which drinks you're serving, set out fresh citrus for zesting, and a Y-peeler for the same.