CookingLight
Ah, Champagne! The pop of the cork rivals the trumpet sounds of angels. The dancing of its bountiful bubbles fills me with glee. The crisp, quenching flavor makes my palate do cartwheels. On the flip side, it makes my head hurt like a [censored]. I was hosting a New Year’s Eve party this past year, and knew that, despite my good intentions, the inevitable longevity of the evening paired with my adoration of the devil’s bubbliest drink would result in a rough start to 2018. The solution: Cut the champagne with a healthy mixer. While darting through the aisles on a last-minute grocery run, I reviewed my options: Coconut water? Eww, no! Too watery and weird. Orange or cranberry juice? Way too sugary. And all that acid is a real slap upside your palate. Kombucha? Hmm. I tried a kombucha mimosa once (while visiting Portland—shocker) and found it to be vinegary, and too… hipstery. But maybe the problem was the orange juice, adding acid to the already-tart 'bucha. I spied a new brand on the shelf—Big Easy Bucha’s Streetcar Sipper…made with satsuma oranges. That could work, I thought. I decided to give it a try. I grabbed four bottles, and brought them home. After a touch of experimenting with ratios, I found just the right mix, and went on to enjoy a perfectly lovely bubble-fueled bash—and the best part was, I felt pretty good the next morning! Here’s why I think the Cham-Bucha is possibly the perfect party drink: Basic Math Cutting champagne with a non alcoholic (or much less-alcoholic) mixer, helps curb dehydration. You’re also not bombarding your system with too much alcohol at once. I mean, the best bet is to just not overindulge. But I’ve never been good at math, so… The Bubble Factor Most mixers are pretty much a wet blanket on the champagne (#sorrynotsorry mimosa lovers). Flat juices put the damper on the bubble party, and clear sodas are usually loaded with extra sugar. While kombucha does contain some sugar, it’s usually minimal (check the label to be sure). But the best part is that it’s super bubbly. So you get bubbles x bubbles = bubbles 2. Yum! A Clever Disguise Switching it up with something nonalcoholic between drinks is a great way to moderate, and to keep hydrated for the long haul. But it's easy to feel like a party pooper with a glass of water in your hand—and some obnoxious person is always waiting to call you out. Heads up, friends—a flute of straight up kombucha looks pretty much identical to a glass of Champ-Bucha, so you can slow down, with no added heckling. I’d love to tell you that kombucha’s bevy of beneficial probiotics are a hangover-thwarting hero, but that hasn't been proven... yet. While we wait on the scientists to weigh in, you can at least take comfort in the fact that mixing your champs with a little “bucha” gives you a solid probiotic boost. And we can all cheers to that.
