Make your next brunch extra festive with this bright, cheerful Pineapple Mango Mimosa. It’s great made with cava, a Spanish sparkling wine, but your favorite sparkling wine will do!
A mimosa is a combination of juice and sparkling wine. Orange juice and champagne are the classic early 20th-century mix, but any combination of fruit juice, fruit puree, or nectar can be paired with a sparkling alcohol (or even a sparkling soft drink) for a mimosa recipe.
For today’s sweet-tart, tropical note we use pineapple and mango with a Brut cava.
While any sparkling wine would technically be an acceptable choice for a mimosa, I find that certain types of sparkling beverages are better for some juices than others.
For the sweet and tart combination of pineapple and mango, I’ll stick with the Spanish sparkling wine called Cava.
Cava is often confused with Prosecco from Italy as both are sparkling wines that can often be found mixed in the wine section of your liquor store. However, Spanish cava is made in the same traditional way as champagne and also has a smaller bubble due to the way it is fermented.
So, If you don’t want big, aggressive bubbles in your drink, Cava is a great choice for you. Cava is slightly tart with citrus and green apple notes. It comes in several styles:
- brutal nature : no to very little residual sugar
- Brutally: dry/not very sweet, most common on liquor shelves, which is what I use in this recipe
- Semi Seco: very sweet with most of the residual sugar
Mango juice is often available in the refrigerated juice section of your local grocery store. If juice isn’t available, look for bottles of mango nectar in the international section or the natural foods section.
Keep in mind that the nectar is thicker and sweeter, so you’ll have to taste a little to see how much mango-pineapple juice ratio works for your preference. Pineapple juice is widely available in most supermarket juice departments and also in large chain liquor stores.
Do you need champagne flutes for mimosas?
Almost every brunch service with mimosas on the menu serves them in a flute glass—but you don’t have to! When entertaining friends and family casually, stemless wine glasses are a good choice, or even a regular wine glass. If flutes aren’t in your home bar, don’t sweat it!
This is how you get the perfect cast
After pouring champagne into juice too many times and it bubbling up and overflowing my glass, I almost always have Pour the wine first, and then the juice. You can always taste and adjust the flavor a bit (as long as you’re pouring your own drink!).
Need a mimosa mocktail?
No alcohol? No problem! This mimosa can easily be made non-alcoholic in a number of ways. A quality club soda like Q Club would dilute the juice and add a nice fizz to the drink.
Non-alcoholic sparkling wines also add perlage and fruity notes in the glass for more complexity. If you find that your alcohol-free wine is sweeter, add a squeeze of lemonade to the mix as well.
Ways to Garnish a Pineapple Mango Mimosa
A pineapple leaf is a nice contrast to the bright, bold colors of this mimosa and doubles as a drink stirrer! If your glass allows, edible floral decorations are also a beautiful presentation and add more color to your drink.
If you don’t have any of these toppings around the house, sprigs of mint will give you a similar contrast and add a little extra flavor to your glass.
More refreshing drink ideas
- Aviation Cocktail
- Lavender Lemonade
- Dark and stormy
- Cucumber Lime Mint Agua Fresca
- Rosemary-lemon-rhubarb spritzer
- Ginger Switchel
Pineapple Mango Mimosa
If you like your mimosa on the sweeter side, reduce the pineapple juice to one ounce and mix together equal parts pineapple juice and mango nectar.
ingredients
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1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
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1/2 ounce mango juice or nectar
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3 ounces brut cava sparkling wine (substitute prosecco or other sparkling wine if cava is not available in your area)
method
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Make the mimosa:
In a wine glass, combine the pineapple juice and mango juice (or nectar). Then add the cava. Stir to combine.
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Enjoy:
Garnish with a pineapple leaf and enjoy!
