The alcohol-free mimosa is the easiest drink on this site to make badly. Two ingredients, one ratio, and yet most versions arrive too sweet, flat within minutes, or both. Here is how to make one properly.
The ratio
Equal parts 0.0% sparkling and orange juice. That is the classic mimosa ratio and it holds for the alcohol-free version.
If your juice is from a carton, shift the balance towards the sparkling, roughly two parts sparkling to one part juice, because cartoned juice carries more sugar than freshly pressed and will otherwise dominate.
Ingredients
- 75 ml alcohol-free sparkling, 0.0%, well chilled
- 75 ml orange juice, freshly pressed if possible, well chilled
- A strip of orange zest, to finish
Method
- Chill everything. The bottle, the juice and the glass. Warm ingredients lose their bubble on contact.
- Pour the juice first, into a flute or a white wine glass, filling it roughly halfway.
- Top slowly with the sparkling, tilting the glass and pouring down the side. Poured straight down, you lose most of the carbonation in the first second.
- Do not stir. The pour has already combined them. A spoon only knocks the bubble out.
- Finish with orange zest, twisted over the surface to release the oil, then dropped in or discarded.
Serve immediately. A mimosa is at its best in the first ten minutes and tired after an hour.
The two mistakes
Sweetness. The most common failure. Between a sweet 0.0% sparkling and a sweet carton of juice, the drink stops refreshing and starts coating. Fix it by using a dry sparkling base and fresh juice, and by never adding syrup or sugar.
A collapsed bubble. The second most common. Alcohol-free sparkling often carries coarser carbonation than wine, which disappears fast once combined. Fix it with cold ingredients, a slow angled pour, and no stirring.
The shortcut: skip the mixing
Both mistakes come from combining two liquids at the last moment. The alternative is a mimosa that is blended and bottled as one cuvée, so the bead is built into the drink rather than assembled on top of it.
That is what we make. Our alcohol-free mimosas come ready in the bottle at 0.0% with no added sugar, in Sicilian Orange and French Raspberry. Pour cold, serve, done. The Twins Pack carries both, which is the useful one when you are hosting.
Variations worth making
- Blood orange, in winter, for depth and colour.
- Raspberry, pressed and strained, for a rosier glass. See our recipe library for the venue versions.
- Clementine with a drop of orange blossom water, which is how it is served on the Côte d'Azur.
For the wider context, read what an alcohol-free mimosa actually is, or how to build a brunch around one.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ratio for an alcohol-free mimosa?
Equal parts 0.0% sparkling and orange juice. With cartoned juice, use two parts sparkling to one part juice, because it is sweeter than fresh.
What can I use instead of champagne in a mimosa?
A dry 0.0% sparkling drink. Avoid sweet sparkling grape juice, which makes the finished drink cloying.
Why does my alcohol-free mimosa go flat?
Usually warm ingredients, pouring straight down rather than down the side of a tilted glass, or stirring after pouring. Chill everything and do not stir.
Can you make alcohol-free mimosas in advance?
Not really. Mix them as you pour. A pre-mixed jug loses its bubble within minutes.