Apple Cider Mimosa just screams fall. From autumn brunches to the holiday season, this apple cider cocktail is one of our favorite drinks to enjoy. Make this kid friendly with a sparkling water float.
Living in the country, our farm is surrounded by orchards of all types and apples here are harvested October through November. And when we drive throughout the area, we love to pick up some freshly made apple cider from our local farm stores for this cocktail. But you can find fresh apple cider throughout the season at supermarkets across the nation.
Apple Cider versus Apple Juice
If you haven’t been out to an orchard, apple cider is a mash up of apples pressed into a liquid. While somewhat filtered, it contains all the freshly pressed juice and pulp versus the refined and pasteurized apple juice (the later also has a longer shelf life). The Kitchn has a great summary of the two.
This flavor of actual fresh apple cider is what we want and prefer for our apple cider mimosa recipe because of the natural sugar and fresh bold flavors.
A Twist on a Mimosa
A mimosa is a sparkling wine cocktail combing any number of juices with sparkling wine or Champagne. It’s a name rooted in an Australian Acacia tree (see what we did there?). You get a fruity and bubbly flavor and is great with brunch or as a festive cocktail for your holiday dinner.
You can see our mimosa bar ideas for more fun combinations.
Apple Cider Mimosa Ingredients
It couldn’t be easier.
- Apple Cider (the real fresh stuff)
- Dry Sparkling Wine, like Cava or Prosecco
- Sugar and Cinnamon, for the rim
How to Make an Apple Cider Mimosa
First, start with rimming the glass with sugar (I like the coarse turbinado sugar for this) and cinnamon.
- Spread the sugar and cinnamon in a small flat dish and mix thoroughly.
- Take a lemon wedge and gently run around the rim of a sparkling wine glass.
- Place the glass on the dish with the sugar/cinnamon mix and make ¼ turns so the mix sticks to the lemon juice on the edge of the glass.
Then we mix the drink. The ratio we use is 1 part apple cider to 3 parts of the sparkling wine, depending on the glass size. The reality is that no two flutes are the same size. So just pour the apple cider in and then fill the rest of the glass with sparkling wine.
The last step is to place a small slice of apple right on the edge of the glass as garnish.
Other Fall Cocktail Ideas
Other Mimosa Ideas
The recipe for Apple Cider Mimosa was originally published in November 2012, and updated in November 2020 with new photos. The recipe remains the same.
Apple Cider Mimosa Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ounces fresh apple cider
- 6 ounces dry sparkling wine
Garnish
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 small lemon wedge
- 1 thin apple slice
- 1 small cinnamon stick (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Do this step first! In a small flat dish mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Take the lemon wedge and run around the rim of the glass. Place the rim of the glass on the flat plate and make 2 quarter turns to coat the entire rim with the sugar and cinnamon mix.
- Pour one part fresh apple cider into the glass (or approximately 2 oz), then fill the remainder of the glass with sparkling wine.
- Stir with your cinnamon stick and let it sit and infuse with the mimosa. (optional)
- Garnish with the apple slice and sip away!
- If you make a second (and who wouldn’t?!) go ahead and use the same cinnamon stick. It will still have a fair amount of spice.
Timothy Nishimoto says
Wow, those pancakes sound amazing!! The whipping of the eggs for the batter I’m makes a big difference in the texture…yum!