Sit back with your Champagne on the rocks
‘The problem people have is that they drink it and they crash with it’
LONDON: After a month on the wagon, Dry January is finally over for thousands of people.
And what better way to celebrate a return to drinking than with a nice bottle of Champagne?
But as any overeager partygoer knows, it doesn’t take long for Champagne to go to one’s head and, while there are many ways to drink bubbly; with a splash of orange juice, out of a flute or, our favourite, out of the bottle, it’s notorious for sneaking up on you.
Enter Champagne connoisseur Bill Murray.
The A-list actor has revealed his fail-safe method for drinking mass quantities of bubbly for an entire weekend without feeling horrendous.
The secret? Champagne on the rocks.
“The way I like to drink champagne is, I like to make what we call a Montana Cooler, where you buy a case of Champagne and you take all the bottles out, and you take all the cardboard out, and you put a garbage bag inside of it, then you put all the bottles back in and then you cover it with ice, and then you wrap it up and you close it,” Murray said.
“That will keep it all cold for a weekend, and you can drink every single bottle. And the way I like to drink it is in a big pint glass with ice. I fill it with ice and I pour the Champagne in it, because Champagne can never be too cold.
“The problem people have with Champagne is that they drink it and they crash with it, because the sugar content is so high and you get really dehydrated.
“But if you can get the ice in it, you can drink it supremely cold and at the same time, you’re getting the melting ice, so it’s like a hydration level, and you can stay at this great level for a whole weekend.”
While wine spritzers have always been a thing, the idea of diluting an expensive bottle of Champagne sounds extreme, but it works.
Here, it’s all about the ice dissolving at the right speed so that you get just the right amount of hydration without affecting the taste.
Three large cubes are said to be the ideal number to get the right ratio of water to wine. And while your first sip will be intense, you’ll get a more balanced flavour as the ice begins to melt.