Pineapple Fizz – New Year's Sparkling Cocktail
Two ingredients, both properly cold: sweet sparkling cider and pineapple juice. In Argentina the pineapple fizz is what gets poured at New Year and at Christmas — the alternative to plain cider when it is 30 °C outside.
A word on the cider: this is the sweet, sparkling, alcoholic kind sold for the holidays, closest to a US hard cider or to a sweet sparkling wine. Not cloudy apple juice.
The whole craft is protecting the bubbles. Everything is chilled in advance rather than cooled with ice — ice waters it down. The cider goes down the side of a tilted jug, like beer, and it gets stirred exactly once.
Ingredients
- 1 bottle of sweet sparkling cider or sweet sparkling wine, well chilled (750 ml)
- 400 ml pineapple juice, well chilled (fresh, or canned pineapple with its juice)
- Thin pineapple slices, to garnish the glasses
- Ice only if nothing was chilled ahead — it waters the toast down
Method
- 1
Chill the cider and the pineapple juice separately for several hours: chilling ahead is what saves the bubbles, not ice.
- 2
If you are using canned pineapple, blend the slices with their juice for a thicker, fruitier fizz. Strain freshly squeezed juice.
- 3
Put the pineapple juice into a jug first, then pour the cider down the side of the tilted jug, the way you would pour a beer, so the carbonation does not collapse.
- 4
Mix with ONE single gentle turn of the spoon. Any more stirring kills the foam.
- 5
Serve straight away in glasses with a slice of pineapple on the rim. The classic ratio is 2 parts cider to 1 part juice — adjust to taste.