New Year’s Eve Champagne Cocktail: Blackberry Thyme Sparkler

12/30/2013

When it comes to New Year’s Eve celebrations, you can’t go wrong with a champagne cocktail. This easy Blackberry Thyme Sparkler is made with a simple homemade blackberry simple syrup and garnished with a gold sugar rim. Your guests will love this elegant champagne cocktail recipe!

After a week filled with family, celebrations, and delicious dish after delicious dish, Aaron and I landed back in LA late last night.  Can we all just agree that there is no sleep like that which occurs in your own bed?  It felt really good to wake up this morning tucked into my own sheets with my head on my favorite pillow.

Since New Year’s Eve is tomorrow, I thought we should squeeze in one last champagne cocktail recipe before we bid this year adieu! This ombre-colored bubbly cocktail (and the super chic champagne flute) is just as delicious as it is easy on the eyes.

There’s never a bad time for a cocktail!

How to Make This Champagne Cocktail Recipe

1. In a small saucepan, bring blackberries, water, and sugar to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, until the blackberries are soft and the simple syrup has turned to a bright pink/redish color.
2. Remove from heat, drain blackberries, and allow to cool.  This step can be done well in advance as the syrup will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.
3. Prepare your champagne glasses.
4. Okay, so here is a dirty little secret of getting those beautiful salts and sugars to stay atop the rim: butter.  It adheres perfectly. Place the tiniest amount between your fingers and rub just around the rim of the glass before dipping the glass into the gold baking sugar.
5. Begin by adding one ounce of gin followed by one ounce of homemade blackberry simple syrup to each glass.
6. Next drop two blackberries in each glass.
7. Fill the rest of the glass with champagne and top with a sprig of thyme in each glass. Voila!

How to serve your champagne cocktails

Rather than bringing out the glasses individually to your guests, I like to serve them on a simply decorated tray.

We first used this acrylic tray for our fall sangria post and it has continued to come in handy ever since.  A little bit of gold star confetti and voila: a total NYE appropriate serving tray.

I had these luxe leather coasters sitting out during our team holiday party and so many people commented on how great they were.  They’re classic and chic and add another layer of texture to a table.

Homemade blackberry simple syrup recipe

I love making homemade simple syrups. They are such a great way of adding flavor to cocktails and the name says it all – they are so simple to make! Fruit, sugar and water is all you need. Once you’ve made the syrup, let it cool and transfer in to an air tight container, keep it in the fridge and it will keep for up to a week.

A show stopping New Year’s Eve champagne cocktail

When we host New Year’s Eve, I want a good amount of sparkle in my decor and drinks! The gold sugar rim adds a subtle and chic festive feel to these cocktails. The prettiest cocktail, right?! I’m not just biased?

Top Tips To Make This Blueberry Thyme Sparkler

• Make your simple syrup ahead of time and it will only take 5 minutes to prepare these festive cocktails.
• Use a tiny amount of butter on the rim so that the sugar sticks and stays in place.
• Garnish the drink with fresh blackberries and thyme for color and fragrance.
• Serve these cocktails immediately so that they don’t loose their fizz.

For more cocktail recipes:

• Sidecar Cocktail Recipe
• Vanilla Pumpkin Spice Mules
• Peppermint White Russian
• Gin Lavender Lattes

I would love to hear what you think of this New Year’s Eve champagne cocktail recipe. Be sure to drop us a note in the comments below. We would love to know what is your favorite champagne cocktail recipe!

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Cocktail Hour / Blackberry Thyme Sparkler a Champagne Cocktail

★★★★ 4 from 1 reviews

• Author: Jen Pinkston
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 cocktails 1x
• Category: Drinks
• Cuisine: American

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Description

When it comes to New Year’s Eve celebrations, you can’t go wrong with a champagne cocktail. This easy Blackberry Thyme Sparkler is made with a simple homemade blackberry simple syrup and garnished with a gold sugar rim.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

 

• 1/2 c. blackberries + 8 more for garnish
• 1 c. Water
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 bottle of champagne
• 4 ounces or 1/2 c. gin
• 4 long sprigs of thyme
• 1 c. ice
•  gold baking sugar for the rim
• champagne glasses

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Instructions

In a small saucepan, bring blackberries, water, and sugar to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, until the blackberries are soft and the simple syrup has turned to a bright pink/redish color.

Remove from heat, drain blackberries, and allow to cool.  This step can be done well in advance as the syrup will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.

Prepare your champagne glasses.

Okay, so here is a dirty little secret of getting those beautiful salts and sugars to stay atop the rim: butter.  It adheres perfectly. Place the tiniest amount between your fingers and rub just around the rim of the glass before dipping the glass into the gold baking sugar.

Begin by adding 1 ounce of gin followed by 1.5 ounces of homemade blackberry simple syrup to each glass.

Next drop two blackberries in each glass.

Fill the rest of the glass with champagne and top with a sprig of thyme in each glass. Voila!

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Keywords: new years eve cocktails, champagne cocktails, blackberry cocktails, homemade simple syrup

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Photography by Melissa Valladares

Leather Coasters, Cocktail Shaker, and Acrylic Tray by Mark and Graham

PS. Enjoy this post? See all of our cocktail recipes here!