The only way to improve upon mimosas, in our opinion, is to add the word "bottomless" in front of it. (Are we right, or are we right?) A tasty combination of orange juice and champagne, mimosas refresh the senses and go down beautifully. There’s never been an easier and more acceptable way to start day drinking before noon than with a glass of OJ and bubbly. Yet despite its ubiquity at the brunch table, the iconic drink's origins are much disputed.
According to Chilled Magazine, the mimosa is actually a spin-off of the cocktail Buck’s Fizz, mixed at Buck’s Club in London in 1921. The only variation between these two cocktails? Ratio -- mimosas are equal parts champagne and orange juice, while Buck’s Fizz is two parts champagne, one part OJ (Have I been making a Buck's Fizz this entire time and calling it a mimosa? The more you know).
But we can't discount a pervasive rumor that asserts that acclaimed movie director Alfred Hitchcock invented the mimosa. That's right, that Hitchcock. While Hitchcock did make the cocktail popular in America, it’s really a stretch to say that he invented it. Others claim that a bartender at the Ritz Hotel in Paris was its true progenitor. According to Drinks Feed, the bartender, Frank Meier, never officially took responsibility for the cocktail, but included it in his book "Artistry of Mixing Drinks."
We’ll never truly be confident of the mimosa's origins, but that doesn’t stop us from appreciating the staple brunch drink -- so raise a glass this National Mimosa Day and toast to the delightful refreshment that does the most.