I like Champagne Cocktails because they are unfussy to make without any stress of sticking to exact liquid or other measures or the need for elaborate and expensive equipment or tools. Put the money you are saving into the ingredients, because cheap stuff shows -- or rather tastes. Vile, that is. Simplicity is paramount.
Method: Just see that the glasses and ALL the ingredients are very cold. The champagne-ingredients ratio is really up to taste.
Classic: Sugarcube, some drops of Angostura Bitter. This is maybe the only cocktail that requires real champagne or at least so I think. (Lovely pink bubbles! My favourite!) It's for a reason I can not pinpoint, maybe because it's not fruity, an excellent winter drink. Reportedly, this is one of the few original cocktails that appeared in the first (1862) version of the seminal How to Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas. The recipe has remained unchanged for 150 years.
Campari isn't really, as some claim, an alternative in the "Classic" for Angostura, but still, it makes a fine champagne cocktail variety.
Buck's Fizz/Mimosa: Freshly pressed orange juice to taste. Add gin and peach schnapps and you'll get a Jacuzzi, but the latter is too fussy a recipe for my idea of champagne cocktails.
Kir Royal: With Creme de Cassis. (I think it's overrated.)
Bellini: Fresh peach puree from a very ripe peach. Peach schnapps (not peach liqueur) won't do any harm. Avoid canned fare.
Pear Bellini: Fresh pear puree from a very ripe pear, pear schnapps. (Preferable to the peach variant, or so I think)
Nelson's Blood: With Tawny Port. Brits sometimes take the opportunity to give a toast, which is very apropos.
Black Velvet: With Stout. (Corrupts two perfectly good drinks by mixing them. Yuck!)
Champagne Cooler: Good for using various content of your bar. For example any Brandy or Cognac, or orange flavoured mixers like Curaçao Triple Sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier.
Elderflower: Add elderflower syrup. Light and pleasant variety!
I realize that die-hard champagne lovers may think all this a sacrilege, and although it is always recommended to use the most expensive ingredients one can afford, I dare saying that the thing that can be first compromised when making champagne cocktails is -- yes -- champagne. A good Italian prosecco or dry German Sekt will do (almost) as well, with the exception of the "classic" champagne cocktail. Oh yes, and always put the mixers in first before the champagne to avoid overflow.
I positively hate those heavy, herbal mixers, such as Chartreuse or anything minty. Besides, I think green looks vile in a drink. And I don't even WANT to know how that awful German liqeur Jägermeister tastes when mixed with Champagne and the same applies to Pernod. If anything, both are something for a down and out party under the bridges.
