This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy here.
Cocktail History
The Thanksgiving Sparkler is an autumn cocktail that was created by Nick Mautone at Rainbow Room in New York City, New York and was first published in his book The Artisanal Kitchen: Holiday Cocktails. This fall-inspired variation of the classic French 75 combines a brandy base with the seasonal flavor of spiced pumpkin, the sourness of lemon, and the effervescence of semi-dry bubbly to make a festive sipper that’ll keep you buzzed through the long holiday weekend.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Sparkling Wine: This is a carbonated wine made with white or red grapes. I used Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut.
Brandy: This is a spirit made with distilled white wine. I used Central Standard Craft Distillery Northern Wisconsin Brandy.
Pumpkin Spice Syrup: This is a sweetener made with pumpkin purée, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, brown sugar, white sugar, and water. I made mine using this sous vide recipe.
Lemon Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lemon. We used freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Brown Sugar: This is white sugar that has been processed, crystallized, dried, and flavored with molasses. I used C&H Pure Cane Dark Brown Sugar.
Grated Nutmeg: This is a spice made from the seed of a nutmeg tree. I used Frontier Co-op Whole Nutmeg.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. I used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Paring Knife: This is used to cut smaller ingredients. I used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.
Juicer: This is used to juice citrus, fruits, and vegetables. I used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer.
Bar Spoon: This is used to stir ingredients. I used the Barfly Stainless Steel Teardrop Bar Spoon.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning we make a small commission each time you purchase a product using our links. Product images sourced from Amazon Product Advertising API. Amazon affiliate links last updated on 2025-01-22.
Tasting Notes
This cocktail has the following flavor profile:
• Appearance: Brown-ish golden color
• Aroma: Dry wine and brown sugar
• Taste: Sweet brown sugar and bubbly wine flavor followed with pumpkin, citrus, and spices
• Finish: More dry wine
Kendall’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kendall’s Take: “The original recipe for this cocktail didn’t call for any citrus and wasn’t quite right without it, in my opinion. Adding in the lemon juice made it so much more balanced. Although I’ll admit it is a bit on kitschy side with its brown sugar rim, I really enjoyed this sparkling wine cocktail. I found the Thanksgiving Sparkler to be like an autumn-flavored bubbly, which is something I’ve never tried before. I would have this again at the holidays—maybe just without the sweet, sugary rim.”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from The Artisanal Kitchen: Holiday Cocktails by Nick Mautone.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning we make a small commission each time you purchase a product using our links. Product images sourced from Amazon Product Advertising API. Amazon affiliate links last updated on 2025-01-22.
Thanksgiving Sparkler
The Thanksgiving Sparkler is an autumn cocktail that was created by Nick Mautone at Rainbow Room in New York City, New York and was first published in his book The Artisanal Kitchen: Holiday Cocktails. This fall-inspired variation of the classic French 75 combines a brandy base with the seasonal flavor of spiced pumpkin, the sourness of lemon, and the effervescence of semi-dry bubbly to make a festive sipper that’ll keep you buzzed through the long holiday weekend.
Ingredients
Method
-
Pour brown sugar on a plate, rim a champagne flute with ¼ oz pumpkin spice syrup, and dip glass in brown sugar until coated.
-
Add brandy, ½ oz pumpkin spice syrup, and lemon juice to rimmed champagne flute.
-
Stir gently for 5-10 seconds.
-
Top with sparkling wine.
-
Garnish with grated nutmeg.
