Black Velvet

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Cocktail History

The Black Velvet is a classic cocktail that was created by a London bartender in 1861 at the Brooks’s Club in London to mourn the death of Prince Albert. It is traditionally made by mixing stout beer with sparkling wine and citrus.

Cocktail Ingredients

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Sparkling Wine: This is a carbonated wine made with white or red grapes. We used Villa Bellezza Winery Brillante because it has a light and airy flavor. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Gruvi Non-Alcoholic Prosecco in place of the sparkling wine.

Dry Stout Beer: This is a type of dark beer made with hops, malted barley, yeast, and water. We used Guinness Draught Stout because smooth and creamy. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Guinness 0 Non-Alcoholic Draught in place of the beer.

Lemon Twist: This is the peel of a lemon that is twisted into a corkscrew shape.

Bartending Tools

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:

Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Peeler: This is used to remove the garnish peel from the citrus. We used the OXO Good Grips 2-Piece Peeler Set.

Tasting Notes

Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: To our surprise, this recipe tasted a lot better than it sounded when we first read the list of ingredients. The combination is curious but pretty delicious, especially if you enjoy a good stout beer. Neither of us are big beer drinkers, so we likely won’t be making the Black Velvet again, but it’s definitely worth trying at least once.

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Recipe

This cocktail recipe was adapted from The Art of Vintage Cocktails by Stephanie Rosenbaum.

Sale
The Art of Vintage Cocktails
The Art of Vintage Cocktails
Hardcover Book; Rosenbaum, Stephanie (Author); English (Publication Language); 108 Pages – 01/07/2014 (Publication Date) – Egg & Dart (Publisher)
$10.98

AuthorThe Art of Vintage Cocktails

Yields1 ServingPrep Time5 mins

Ingredients
 3 oz Sparkling Wine
 2 oz Dry Stout Beer
 1 Lemon Twist

Method
1

Pour beer into a champagne glass.

2

Top with sparkling wine.

3

Garnish with lemon twist.

Ingredients

Ingredients
 3 oz Sparkling Wine
 2 oz Dry Stout Beer
 1 Lemon Twist

Directions

Method
1

Pour beer into a champagne glass.

2

Top with sparkling wine.

3

Garnish with lemon twist.

Black Velvet

Make It a Mocktail: Use Gruvi Non-Alcoholic Prosecco in place of the sparkling wine and Guinness 0 Non-Alcoholic Draught in place of the beer to try a booze-free version of this drink.

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More Beer Cocktails

If you like this beer-based cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:

Averna Stout Flip Cocktail Recipe

Averna Stout Flip: A stout beer cocktail made with Amaro Averna, egg white, egg yolk, Angostura aromatic bitters, and grated nutmeg

End of the Line Bucky Barnes Cocktail Recipe

End of the Line: A beer cocktail made with gin, orange curaçao, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, rosemary, grapefruit, and peppercorn bitters, and an orange slice

Stout Sangaree Cocktail Recipe

Stout Sangaree: An Irish stout beer and port wine cocktail made with nutmeg

Hop Over Cocktail Recipe

Hop Over: An IPA cocktail made with genever, velvet falernum, lemon juice, orange flower water, and a lemon wheel

This post contains affiliate links, meaning we make a small commission each time you purchase a product using our links. Product images sourced from Amazon Product Advertising API. Amazon affiliate links last updated on 2024-03-27.

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