The Ritz Cocktail is the fourth of my seven champagne cocktails served at my Academy Awards party this past Sunday. It was created by my favorite mixologist and the guy who got me interested in actually crafting cocktails, Dale Degroff. You can find the recipe on several different sites, such as drinkmixer and eHow.  The version I made actually came from Mix Shake Stir: Recipes from Danny Meyer’s Acclaimed New York City Restaurants, but it is the same as the one featured on eHow.

Combine

• 1 1/2 oz cognac
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
• 1/2 oz lemon juice

and shake well with juice. Strain that into a chilled champagne flute and top with about 2 oz of champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist. I use a traditional lemon twist like this one.

It is quite possibly my favorite champagne cocktail because of the play between the citrus and cherry flavors. It isn’t overly sweet, but the sweet nose of citrus and cherry fool the palate into thinking that it’s sweeter than it really is. The flavors go so well together that it deserves to be drunk at any special party. It can work well as a pre-dinner drink or an after-dinner drink, and I highly recommend it.