Golden Chrysanthemum

This post contains affiliate links. See our disclosure policy here.

Cocktail History

The Golden Chrysanthemum is a pear-flavored brandy and sparkling wine cocktail that was created by bartender Kenta Goto of Bar Goto in New York City, New York to pay tribute to the Japanese flower. It was first included in a 2015 issue of Saveur, an online food, wine, and travel magazine. It’s made with a unique yet bitter combination of sparkling wine, pear liqueur and brandy, and lemon.

Cocktail Ingredients

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

Sparkling Wine: This is the base spirit. It adds sparkling wine flavor and effervescence. We used La Marca Prosecco for its crisp, refreshing taste and floral notes.

Pear Liqueur: This is a fruit liqueur that adds pear flavor. We used Mathilde Poire Liqueur because it offers rich flavor and is a high quality liqueur.

Suze: This is a French apéritif made from gentian root. It adds a unique bitter flavor.

Pear Brandy: This is spirit made from Bartlett pears and sparkling wine yeast. We used St. George Pear Brandy for its crisp pear flavor and notes of black pepper.

Lemon Twist: This is the garnish. It adds a hint of citrus aroma.

Tasting Notes

The Golden Chrysanthemum features lemon and herbal aromas and a mostly herbaceous taste that combines the effervescence and slight sweetness of sparkling wine, the pleasant flavors of sweet pear, and the herbal and bitter Suze.

Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: While the drink is overall fairly sweet, the backing of the bitter yellow liqueur adds a unique complexity that takes this a step further than your typical sparkling wine cocktail. Though Kendall felt the addition of the Suze was still much too bitter despite the balance of sweet ingredients, Alex loved this recipe! Its unique flavors and aromas set it so far apart from any other sparkling cocktails we’ve tried.

Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“While I find most sparkling wine cocktails to taste more or less the same, this drink is one of the outliers. Thanks to the herbal bitter Suze, this one tastes like its accenting flavors rather than just the sparkling wine. The pear liqueur also adds a fruity sweetness to balance out the deep bitterness, making for a well-balanced cocktail with an effervescent twist that I found went down fairly easily but not too quickly.”

—

Kendall’s Take: ⭐
“I really thought we had come across a Suze cocktail I would enjoy when I added this one to our calendar, but alas, I still couldn’t drink more than a sip of the Golden Chrysanthemum because the Suze was so aggressive. I expected the sparkling wine to temper the bitter liqueur a lot more than it did, but its presence was still too prominent for my liking. It was interesting but ultimately a ‘no’ for me.”

Recipe

This cocktail recipe was adapted from a 2015 issue of Saveur magazine.

Tools & Glassware We Recommend

More Sparkling Wine Cocktails

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

• Pomegranate Gin Fizz: A gin cocktail made with grenadine, sparkling wine, pomegranate seeds, and a Demerara sugar cube

• Mountaintop Meadow: A vodka cocktail made with elderflower liqueur, simple syrup, lavender bitters, dry sparkling wine, a pineapple wedge, and mint

• Nucleus Mimosa: A sparkling wine cocktail made with orange juice, cranberry juice, and a lime slice

• Minute To Midnight: A brandy cocktail made with pear liqueur, Angostura aromatic bitters, dry sparkling wine, and a lemon twist