Champagne Margarita

Say cheers to these sparkling Champagne Margaritas, your new favorite way to celebrate anything. With tequila, lime juice and a hint of orange, this classic cocktail gets a fancy upgrade with the addition of bubbly sparkling wine.

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Champagne Margarita recipe

One of my secrets to entertaining: I always keep a bottle of champagne in the fridge.

You never know when one of your friends or family is going to get engaged, a new job, house, promotion or anything else worth celebrating!

Yes, sometimes my spare bottle of champagne hangs out in the produce drawer. But it’s always there, just in case.

And if I want to do something really fancy to celebrate special occassions — or stretch the bottle of sparkling wine just a little longer.

This Champagne Margarita combines all the fun of a classic margarita with the elegance of a classic champagne cocktail. Featuring tequila plus your favorite bubbly, these margaritas definitely feel a little fancy!

More margarita recipes: Prickly Pear Margaritas • Beeritas • Apple Cider Margaritas • Margarita Sangria

Why you’ll love this recipe

Bubbly and bright, these Champagne Margaritas will be your new favorite drink for celebrating.

• They’re EASY. If you’ve ever made from-scratch margaritas, you’ll be a pro at these.
• You can use either salt or sugar on the rim and customize them with your favorite flavors.
• Perfect for a party, they’re easy to make ahead. Just pop the champagne and top up the glasses!

These sparkly cocktails are perfect for any occasion. You can make happy hour, taco night and Cinco de Mayo a little bit fancier or serve them any time you have something to celebrate. (And yes, National Margarita Day is a perfect reason to celebrate. It’s Feb. 22, by the way!)

They’re great for dinner parties, barbecues, girls night, bachelorette parties, showers and engagement parties. They’d also be fun for toasting as a New Year’s Eve cocktail. (See below for tips on making a big batch of this recipe for a crowd.)

Tools & glassware

To make these margaritas with champagne, you’ll need a jigger, a cocktail shaker and a cocktail strainer like a Hawthorne strainer. You can also use a pitcher if you want to make more for a party.

margarita glasses

You can serve these bubbly cocktails in a few types of glasses:

• champagne flutes: Classic for sparkling wine, simply fill the glasses halfway full of margarita mixture and top with champagne. Downside: They tend to hold a little less so you might have some extra margarita mix.
• coupe glasses: Another type of champagne glass is the coupe glass, which is what I used in these pictures.
• margarita glasses: These are cocktail glasses with stems that are designed for serving margaritas. They tend to have super wide rims so you can have more sips with salt or sugar.
• rocks glasses: It’s also common to see margaritas served on the rocks in old-fashioned glasses, which are short tumblers.

Ingredients

Here’s what you will need to make these sparkling margaritas:

Salt or sugar for the rim

Salt or sugar? The rim is the best part! (Though you can skip it if you like.)

If you like a salt rim, sea salt or kosher salt work well. I don’t recommend using regular table salt. Try to use coarse salt, tough a flaky salt will be too coarse.

You can also use flavored salts. I love this Tajin chile-lime seasoning for its pretty color and delicious flavor. I also love making my own flavored salts, such as this orange salt.

If you like a sugar rim you can do that as well — it works well with this delicious cocktail.

Best tequila for margaritas

Margarita recipes traditionally call for tequila, which is a transparent spirit made from the Blue Weber Agave plant in Mexico.

My favorite tequila brands right now are Sauza, El Jimador and Lunazul, but there are tons more out there. For top-shelf margaritas, try Don Julio, Patron or Milagro.

You can mix your favorite tequila into these margs. There are a few types of tequila that I detail in my Tequila 101 crash course.

I like to use blanco, or silver, tequila for most margs. Clear and colorless, it works really well in any margarita recipe. Gold tequila has added caramel color to make it seem aged, so I don’t usually recommend it, but it will taste just fine if you use it.

Fresh Lime Juice

Using fresh citrus juice in a cocktail brings the best, zestiest flavor. It will make a serious difference, trust me!

If you have the bottled concentrate, that works too. But it can be a bit more tart than fresh lime juice, so keep that in mind.

favorite juicers

citrus press juicer

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glass citrus juicer

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electric juicer

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Orange Liqueur

Orange liqueur gives a hint of orange flavor and another layer of complexity to any margarita. The sweet orange balances the sour lime flavors in the margarita.

Since these are champagne margaritas, I suggest a top-shelf choice like Grand Marnier or Cointreau, for a more sophisticated flavor.

Triple sec and curaçao are low-cost versions that are quite delicious, too.

Sweetener

You have a few options for sweetening your homemade champagne margaritas. (Skip adding a sweetener if you’re using sour mix, though!)

The best choice is agave nectar, which is a sweet syrup made from the agave plant. It pairs really beautifully with mezcal since they are made from the same plant.

Another option is making a batch of simple syrup, which is easy to make with sugar and water.

You could also use a homemade honey syrup or dress your margs up with more flavors like blueberry simple syrup.

Sparkling Wine

Because champagne can only come from the Champagne region of France, it can be a tad expensive. As such, any kind of dry sparkling wine, such as cava or prosecco, will work here too.

Brut champagne works well in this cocktail. Look for “dry,” “brut” or “extra brut” on the label.

My guide to sparkling wine can help you pick out a bottle and tell you more about the different types.

A great budget buy is Freixenet or La Marca, which are both in the $12-15 range. They are good quality yet they don’t break the bank.

One thing I want to mention is that these cocktails are different than the José Cuervo Sparkling Margarita cans, which are margaritas with sparkling water.

Bitters

Bitters are an ingredient in a classic champagne cocktail, so I wanted to use them here when I married these two cocktails.

Use orange bitters to give this an extra citrus bite along with the orange liqueur. It helps to balance the sweetness of the agave.

If you don’t have orange bitters, you can use angostura bitters, experiment with other flavors of bitters or skip them altogether.

Garnishes

If you’re using fresh limes, cut a few wedges or wheels for garnishes for your cocktails. You could also make lime twists to make this an elegant, pretty cocktail.

To make a lime twist: Cut a slice of the lime. Use a sharp knife to make a single slit in the peel, then another one under one edge of the green zest. Holding the lime slice, slowly pull the green zest off of the slice. Once you have removed the peel, twist it around your finger or a straw and hold it there for a few seconds to help it keep the shape.

Variations and substitutions

Feel free to mix up this cocktail in one of these ways:

Flavored Champagne Margaritas: Instead of agave, use a flavored simple syrup like strawberry syrup or jalapeño syrup to add more flavor to this cocktail.

Pink Champagne Margaritas: You can use a sparkling rosé wine instead of champagne to make pretty pink cocktails. Make sure to use clear simple syrup and colorless triple sec

Frozen Champagne Margaritas: Follow the instructions for frozen margaritas, then top glasses with a splash of chilled champagne.

Skinny Champagne Margaritas: Instead of triple sec, use orange juice. Skip the simple syrup or use sugar-free simple syrup.

How to make Champagne Margaritas

These champagne cocktails are super easy to put together!

Place margarita salt (or sugar) on a plate. Rub a lime wedge around the outer edge of the glass. Roll the rim of the glass in the salt to coat the rim.

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine tequila, Grand Marnier, lime juice and agave nectar. Shake it up well.

Strain the margarita into a margarita glass or coupe glass. It should be about halfway full.

Slowly pour champagne over top. Then add a dash or two of orange bitters on top.

Garnish with a lime wedge, twist or wheel to polish it up.

Tips & tricks

Quality ingredients matter in a cocktail. For great-tasting cocktails, a good bottle can make a difference. Go for a mid-price tequila, a nice orange liqueur and a good sparkling wine.

Use a nice salt or sugar for the rim. I suggest making your own margarita salt or using sanding sugar.

Make them gorgeous with a lime twist for the rim.

Make-ahead Champagne Margaritas

If you want to make a big batch ahead of time, you can mix together the tequila, triple sec, lime juice and agave nectar.

Then all you’ll have to do is add some of that mixture to a glass and then top them up with champagne.

Here are the ingredient amounts for 8 drinks:

• 12 ounces blanco tequila
• 8 ounces orange liqueur
• 8 ounces lime juice
• 4 ounces agave nectar
• 1 (750ml) bottle of champagne

For a shortcut, you can use 12 ounces of margarita mix in lieu of the lime juice and agave.

What to serve with Champagne Margaritas

Margaritas are always good with Mexican food. Serve them with steak nachos or chips and guacamole for an appetizer, tacos for dinner and churros for dessert.

Champagne is always a good party drink, so champagne margs would be great with any kind of dip or finger food-type appetizer.

Try a charcuterie board with lots of options or a cheesy spinach artichoke dip.

FAQ

More champagne cocktail recipes

• Champagne Moscow Mule
• Pink Champagne Cocktail
• French 75
• Strawberry Rhubarb Champagne Cocktail
• Black Velvet