Labor Day is, literally, just around the corner, making it the perfect time to enjoy these blood orange soda mimosas. September is the transition month here in the PNW between what’s left of the fleeting summer and the rainy season. It’s the time when I scramble to get in just a few more activities outside and try to spend as many weekend afternoons as possible outside, stretched out on the grass with a good book and a cocktail in hand.
The mimosa with blood orange soda recipe came about because of a brunch fail several weekends ago. As I may have mentioned before, brunching in the Vancouver/Portland area sometimes feels like more effort that it’s worth. Every place that’s fairly well rated has a line out the door. Sometimes, I look at a menu and think – do I really want to wait for an hour or more to eat that? And then when you do find a place that doesn’t have much of a line, there’s always the danger that it will take longer to get a cup of coffee than it would have been to wait in the line at the other place. All of this to say that Clay and I went to two possible breakfast spots on a Sunday morning several weeks ago, only to finally give up and go to a gourmet hot dog place instead for an early lunch. Through such serendipity, we stumbled on a best kept secret for brunch: a place that serves chicken apple sausage with a fried egg and tater tots smothered in bacon and gorgonzola sauce. It was here that the waitress tempted me into also getting a mimosa with a raspberry soda pop Popsicle. I have to make this at home, I thought to myself.
Here’s my version. It’s a simple mimosa with a frozen blood orange soda cube, as I wasn’t able to find popsicle sticks this late in the season (ok, I confess, I didn’t try that hard to find them). It’s a perfect laze-around-on-a-warm-fall-afternoon drink. It’s super easy. If you can’t find blood orange soda, try a different soda or try juice. I would imagine this would work equally well to do a more traditional orange juice mimosa, with the frozen cube being made of orange juice.
Mimosas with Blood Orange Soda
Serves 4
Blood Orange Italian Soda or similar
1 bottle of champagne, prosecco, or other sparkling wine
Freeze the soda in a Popsicle mold or large ice cube tray
Once the soda is frozen, place one cube in a wide mouth wine glass. Pour the champagne or sparkling wine over the cube. Enjoy!
