Testing fizz and Confined Cocktail cheers

 It's our 38th Confined Cocktails Saturday today. That, as usual, seems like Quite a Lot. I like that the 40th will be the week before Christmas, when we should definitely be festive and celebratory. I'm already on the carol services and cheesy soundtracks, and it will only ramp up from here. (Thereafter, I can't promise to be around for a proper one on Boxing Day if my plan A works out, but will definitely resume thereafter - was thinking there might be a bonus New Year's Eve edition as well as one for the glums of 2 January.)

Meanwhile, I have had a birthday in not-quite-lockdown, and that definitely seemed like a time for celebrating and experimenting. My new downstairs neighbours bought me champagne in thanks for the very small amount of paperwork I did for them. And Kate Young's lovely Little Library Christmas has a whole double spread of  champagne/fizz cocktail recipes. I have been trying some, for you. 

Last night, it was the classic sugar cube-Angostura bitters-tablespoon of brandy and top up with fizz. I lack a champagne flute, but I do have roasted cobnuts for company. It was very good, although my only brandy is ancient and nearly finished, and now I own a billion sugar cubes which I don't have the champagne to use up in this way. Still, it's a classic for a reason:

With pudding, I tried a much less familiar, and weirder sounding, option: sherry fizz. It needs a maraschino, a glug of juice from the jar, a couple of tablespoons of sherry, and then the fizzy wine. 

With extra cherry, because birthday. And the Cote creme caramel which remains divine. Sparkly Christmas coaster is sparkly:

This was... really nice. Very nice indeed. The maraschino edge goes with the woody backnote in the sherry. I don't often have dry sherry around, but I'd got some left from a small bottle bought for a recipe, and I still have another couple of tbsps left. I think this one will happen again - indeed, I think New Year's Eve is going to be a repeat of this lot. No more champagne in my stores, but I do have some cremant, and that will do nicely.

Tonight, for Confined Cocktails, I'll use the rest (I know, poor show to leave some, but I only started after yoga at 9 yesterday. Besides, you'd be surprised how preservative a wodge of cling film is for fizzy wine). Remaining to be tested live - a French 75, which was the most popular cocktail I'd never tried when we voted. And either damson gin or cassis for a kir should see off the rest of the bottle. At this rate, I might even have space to buy some new booze next year. 

(The Spirits this week is doing a White Lady - which sounds great, but I am deeply nervous of egg white in cocktails, and I don't have a shaker so I suspect it would come out gloopy. Has anyone tried this? I need cocktail guidance!)