Thanksgiving Mimosa With Spiced Orange Juice

Name: Thanksgiving Mimosa
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 cups orange juice; 2 cinnamon sticks; 1 cup dried figs; 2-3 fresh sage leaves; Pinch of ground cloves; Ground cinnamon (optional, for garnish); Sugar (optional, for garnish); 1 Champagne bottle

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Add a festive touch to your holiday celebration with a Thanksgiving mimosa! Orange juice is infused with classic Thanksgiving flavors and spices for a mimosa unlike any other. After one sip, you’ll want to make this fall brunch cocktail a holiday tradition.

Two Thanksgiving mimosas with fall flowers and lights behind it with cinnamon sticks and cloves to the side.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Fun Mimosa Bar and Garnish Ideas
Recipe FAQs
Expert Tips
Perfect Pairing
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Makes for a celebratory, festive time: The holidays are here, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the most wonderful time of year than popping a bottle of bubbles and making mimosas.

That spiced orange juice: We need a mimosa filled with this holiday’s favorite flavors to put an extra special touch on our Thanksgiving gathering. Orange juice pairs so well with Thanksgiving spices and flavors — think figs, cinnamon, cloves and sage — so we bring these elements together in one fall brunch cocktail. The result is unique, tasty, holiday-flavored mimosa that’s sure to make this Thanksgiving celebration a memorable one.

Perfect for a crowd: We make the spiced orange juice ahead of time, and it’s quick and easy to make mimosas. Plus, you’ll find a pitcher option if you prefer that route.

Related: For more Thanksgiving brunch ideas, try my pumpkin chai latte, spiced cranberry mimosa and pumpkin crullers.

A side shot of two Thanksgiving mimosas on cheesecloth with cinnamon sticks and lights next to it.

Ingredients

Let’s chat about the ingredients. Here’s everything we need to make this Thanksgiving mimosa.

Orange juice: While I love pulp in my orange juice, we have to strain it after infusing, so whether you get pulp or no pulp, the end result is the same.

Champagne: See below for my bubbly recommendations as well as nonalcoholic options.

Dried figs: Fresh figs certainly work, but they’re harder to come by. Besides, the dried variety gives us a more concentrated flavor.

Cinnamon sticks: This gives us our most prominent spice flavor for serious Thanksgiving vibes.

Fresh sage: Sage is a popular Thanksgiving herb that gives us a slight savory quality for depth. Please note, only fresh sage will do here. Simmering fresh sage adds a gentle, subtle touch. Dried sage would be too aggressive.

Ground cloves: I love the extra kick of spice, and orange and cloves pair together beautifully.

Looking down onto the mimosas with fall flowers behind them.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: To start, we need to infuse our orange juice with these wonderful Thanksgiving flavors. We take care of this step by simmering orange juice in a small saucepan with our dried figs, cinnamon sticks, fresh sage and cloves (photo 1). Once the mixture comes to a boil, we turn off the heat and let it steep for about 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

The orange juice simmering in a small saucepan on the stove with the spices.

Step 2: Now we strain the spiced orange juice over a fine-mesh sieve and chill it in an airtight container (photo 2).

Straining the spiced orange juice in a fine-mesh sieve over a white bowl in the kitchen sink.

Step 3: For a cinnamon-sugar rim, we cut an orange slice in the middle and run the slit along the rim of the serving glass to moisten. On a small bowl, we mix together cinnamon and brown sugar on a small plate and then swirl the rim into the mixture (photo 3).

Swirling the rim of the Champagne flute in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on a small white plate.

Step 4: With our pretty sugared rim prepared, we’re ready for our holiday mimosa. We grab a Champagne flute and pour a touch of infused orange juice on the bottom and then top with our bubbly of choice (photo 4).

Pouring the Champagne into a flute with the spiced orange juice on the bottom of the glass.

And that’s it! Clink and sip on this Thanksgiving morning.

Bonus: If you love a Champagne cocktail, make sure you also try my French 76. It's perfect for Thanksgiving dinner and all your holiday parties.

Fun Mimosa Bar and Garnish Ideas

In addition to this spiced orange juice, you can set up a mimosa bar with other juices. Fresh apple cider, cranberry juice, pear nectar, pomegranate juice and apple juice are great for enjoying more fall flavors.

And then there are garnishes. Besides that cinnamon-sugar rim, here are a fun garnishes to add a special touch to your new favorite fall cocktail.

Fresh cranberries
Cinnamon sticks
Apple slices
Rosemary sprigs
Orange slices

Recipe FAQs

What's the best wine for mimosas?

For the Champagne, you don’t need to spend too much. Leave the fancy stuff for sipping on its own. A $10 bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine is perfect for this Thanksgiving mimosa.

As far as the type of Champagne, I recommend something dry. Usually, I grab a brut Champagne, but prosecco and cava also work.

What's the best glassware for mimosas?

We can certainly reach for standard Champagne flutes. They’re pretty and never go out of style. However, for this batch, I used these French Champagne glasses. I just love how these glasses blend elegance with a rustic vibe, which is perfect for Thanksgiving.

If you don’t have Champagne flutes, don’t worry. Your typical white wine glass also works. White wine glasses don’t hold the bubbles as well as flutes, but that does mean it doesn’t work as a tasty vessel for our brunch cocktail. I’ve drank plenty of mimosas out of white wine glasses in my day and have never once felt disappointed by the experience.

Can you make mimosas in a pitcher?

Sure, that’s no problem. To easily serve a crowd, we pour our Champagne into a large pitcher. After the fizz subsides, we then pour in the infused orange juice and gently stir to combine.

Just like that, we’re ready to serve mimosas for a party. The carbonation won’t last long, so let’s make sure we don’t take care of this step until we’re ready for mimosa sipping.

Can you make nonalcoholic mimosas?

Absolutely. In fact, we have a few nonalcoholic options. Ginger ale, ginger beer or sparkling apple cider match perfectly with their spice backbone. A sparkling water — flavored or unflavored — also work. The same goes with a lemon-lime soda.

An aerial shot of the Thanksgiving cocktails on a cheesecloth with flowers.

Expert Tips

Use chilled glasses: Since mimosas aren't served with ice, you might enjoy a chilled glass. Simply place your serving glass in the freezer at least 30 minutes before drinking. Or you could fill the serving glass with ice and water and let sit for five minutes. Give it a good stir, toss the water and ice, and you glass is chilled.

Plan ahead: Considering that this Thanksgiving mimosa isn't served over ice, take care of this step the night before serving. Not only does this ensure the infused orange juice is perfectly chilled but it also makes for easy entertaining. If you don’t have time to make the infused orange juice ahead of time, you can cool it in an ice bath and then further chill in a cocktail shaker if necessary.

Adjust the ratio to suit your taste: This mimosa recipe calls for 2 ounces spiced orange juice, but you can increase or decrease that amount, depending on how you like your mimosas.

Don't stir: As you pour the juice and sparkling white wine, they will naturally mix together. No stirring needed.

Pop open the Champagne cork over the sink: This is a protective measure in case you have carbonation overflow.

Pour the Champagne slowly: After all, we don't want an excessively fizzy topping.

Perfect Pairing

This Thanksgiving mimosa calls for a fun fall breakfast, and I have two perfect options for you. One is my apple cinnamon rolls with maple cream cheese glaze. You’ll also love my sweet potato muffins with ginger cream cheese filling. Both are bursting with fall spice, which I just love with our infused orange juice.

If you'd like a lighter option, you could also try this Thanksgiving fruit salad from my friend, Genevieve at Two Cloves Kitchen. This fruit salad features a touch of spice and honey, which is perfect with that infused orange juice.

For a special touch this holiday season, I hope you try this Thanksgiving mimosa. It's the perfect festive sipper for your gathering.

Cheers!

A single Thanksgiving mimosa in front of fall flowers with lights to the side.

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