Name: Moonwalk Cocktail
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 1 cube Sugar cube (white); 3 dash Grapefruit bitters; 2 dash Orange flower water; 25 ml Grand Marnier; 90 ml Brut sparkling wine

Moonwalk Cocktail
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Serve in a Flute glass

Ingredients:
1 cube	Sugar cube (white)
3 dash	Bob's Grapefruit Bitters
2 dash	Orange blossom water / Orange flower water
⁵⁄₆ oz	Grand Marnier or other cognac orange liqueur
3 oz	Brut champagne/sparkling wine

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Orange zest twist (spray & discard) & quarter orange slice on rim

How to make:

Drop sugar cube into glass and soak with dashes of grapefruit bitters and orange flower water. POUR liqueur over soaked sugar cube. TOP with champagne. (Build in glass like a classic Champagne Cocktail.)

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Brut champagne/sparkling wine - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

20th July 2025 is Men first walked on the moon

Review:

Delicately sweetened champagne with cognac and citrus flavours.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 1969 by Joe Gilmore at The American Bar at The Savoy Hotel, London to commemorate the Apollo 11 moon landing on 20th July 1969.

Speaking to Difford's Guide in January 2012 Joe said, "The moon landings were a big deal to everyone at the time and I thought I've got to make a cocktail for this." Joe, who watched the moon landings repeated on TV when his shift was over, went on to say, "I never got to serve Neil Armstrong personally, but I sent one in a flask to NASA and apparently, it was the first drink he had when he landed. He wrote a letter to me at the Savoy to say thank you." That letter is on display on the wall of the 'museum' to the left as you enter The American Bar.

More cocktails by Joe Gilmore

More Champagne cocktails

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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John Hinojos

1st April 2021 at 21:13

Really like this twist on a Champaign Cocktail. Perfect for brunch. Only issue I had was the recipe doesn't say what to do with the Grand Marnier. I followed the directions for a traditional Champaign cocktail and the cognac.

Simon Difford

2nd April 2021 at 08:10

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've now added an instruction to pour the liqueur over the soaked cube.

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