The Buck's Fizz is Champagne and orange juice — very nearly a Mimosa, but mixed with more sparkling wine than juice. The extra Champagne makes it the drier, more spirited of the two, with the bubbles firmly in charge.
The Mimosa's London cousin, and the slightly older of the two.
An Excuse to Start Early
The Buck's Fizz was created in 1921 at the Buck's Club in London, reportedly so that members had a respectable reason to begin drinking before lunch. It predates the first recorded Mimosa by a few years, which makes the family history pleasingly tangled.
Fizz First
The defining difference is proportion. Where the Mimosa is equal parts, the Buck's Fizz uses roughly two parts Champagne to one of orange juice. It is a sparkling-wine drink lightly flavoured with orange, rather than the other way around.
Good Juice, Cold Glass
With so little orange juice in the glass, its quality shows — freshly squeezed is worth the small effort. Chill everything well; a Buck's Fizz that has gone warm or flat loses the crispness that is its entire reason for being.
The Mimosa Family
The classic — equal parts chilled sparkling wine and orange juice, served in a flute.
- 3 ozSparkling wine
- 3 ozOrange juice
Venice's brunch classic — Prosecco and white peach purée, soft and pink.
- 2 ozWhite peach purée
- 4 ozProsecco
The Mimosa dressed for the holidays — cranberry and orange liqueur with sparkling wine.
- 1/2 ozOrange liqueur
- 2 ozCranberry juice
- 4 ozSparkling wine