It's bubbly, quick to pour 1 or 10 drinks, and it's really pretty to look at. And of course, it tastes delicious. Even better, it's easily adapted to become a mocktail that feels just a touch more festive than the usual sparkling cider available to non-drinkers at holiday events.

Photo by Rylea Foehl

Sparkling cocktails are the little black dresses of our lives in 2012, and the black athletic leggings of our lives in 2018- easy, comfortable, well loved, the perfect go to. If you're hosting brunch, making a party cocktail, inviting the girls over to watch the Bachelor on Monday night, etc, etc, this is the garden to glass cocktail (or mocktail! It's a great alcohol free recipe, too!) for you.

We love using local to Washington champagnes like the Yakima Valley's Treveri brut, but you can really use any sparkling wine you like. Just watch the sweetness as you're adding the juice and wine. Let's say you have a sweeter wine like Proseco, you might add a little less juice to the drink or an extra drop of bitters. The beautiful thing, though, is this drink can be made entirely to your tastes and the tastes of your guests. It can also be a delicious non-alcohol option for those who don't want to imbibe.

You may have noticed that we're pretty passionate about supporting the sober community. We both struggled to find delicious and grown up feeling options during our pregnancies, and we have friends and family members who choose a sober lifestyle. We think it's important to be inclusive with options for all when you're hosting, and this drinks fits the bill. For those abstaining, I love that it is tasty, pretty, and one of the very few drinks that is hard to tell apart when it is made non-alcoholic. The end result will look nearly identical to the alcoholic version, so you can fly under the nosy neighbor's radar.

When you're choosing to stay sober it isn't too fun to have the clear and obvious "boring/basic/childish/what is that you're drinking?" choice. You may want your sober decision to stay under the radar for personal reasons, or just wish to ignore the chatter that can come from friends and family . I love that about this cocktail. Like the perfect pair of yoga pants it asks for nothing from you and gives you every bit of comfort in return!

This recipe was originally posted to Youtube as a holiday party cocktail tutorial video, since it is great for big groups! The festive drink recipe is very easy to pre-prep, just fill a tray of champagne flutes with the garnish, juice and bitters, then add the chilled beverage of your choice to the entire tray when you're ready to serve. You can make a bunch of these all at once for a crowd this way, or prepare it in a punch bowl with an ice ring or a chilled pitcher and let guests serve themselves.

Makes 1

Glass: flute

Ingredients:

• A few drops orange bitters
• 1.5 ounce pomegranate juice
• A spoonful of pomegranate seeds
• Fill flute with champagne (approximately 3-4 ounces)

Compose the cocktail directly into a wine glass or champagne flute. Drop bitters at bottom of glass, top with pomegranate juice, and carefully pour in very chilled champagne. Pouring into juice will often make champagne pour especially bubbly, so be patient with the pour to fill it to top. Add pomegranate arils and enjoy!

To make the Pomegranate Sparkler Non-alcoholic:

Just swap in sparkling water or juice instead of the sparkling wine for a really pretty and thoughtful non-alcoholic option. For alcoholics in recovery, you should always ask before including the bitters, as they do contain a very low percentage of alcohol (less than 1%), that may interfere with someone's program.