Name: Curtain Call
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 1 fresh Basil leaves; 40 ml Light white rum; 20 ml Lemon juice; 15 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 10 ml Red bitter liqueur; 30 ml Brut sparkling wine

Curtain Call
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Glass:

Photographed in an Urban Bar Retro Optic Coupe 21cl

Ingredients:
1 fresh	Basil leaves
1 ¹⁄₃ fl oz	Light white rum (charcoal-filtered 1-4 years old)
²⁄₃ fl oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water, 65.0°Brix)
¹⁄₃ fl oz	Italian red bitter liqueur
1 fl oz	Brut champagne/sparkling wine

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of skewered black olives.

How to make:

Lightly MUDDLE basil (just to bruise) in base of shaker.
Add next 4 ingredients and SHAKE with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
TOP with sparkling wine.

Garnish:

Garnish with skewered olives.

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

Review:

Rum, lemon, bitter liqueur and basil combine brilliantly with sparkling wine adding biscuity complexity, crispness and enlivening effervescence.

View readers' comments

Variations/similar cocktails:

Old Cuban

History:

Adapted from a recipe created by Arash Ghassemi at Green Door & Schwarze Traube, Berlin, and originally made with Bacardi Carta Blanca rum. This was the German Bacardí Legacy 2016 winning cocktail.

Alcohol content:

We don't have enough information to calculate the alc./vol., but based on known ingredients, this recipe contains at least:

17.4 grams of pure alcohol

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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Showing 10 of 14 comments for Curtain Call.
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Simon Sedgley

20th January 2025 at 05:13

This is our favourite Champagne cocktail...come party time, we make lots of these, Sidecar Royales and Old Cubans. But we hadn't noticed the brining bizzo (not specified in the recipe...not sure why not). But my oh my, a rinse of salty, full-flavoured Kalamata brine sends this into seventh heaven. What a blast!

Morten Carlsbaek

22nd November 2024 at 14:25

Amazing champagne cocktail. I think, the key is to get the hint of basil right, not too much. I used cava Freixenet Gordon Negro, and it worked well (you can get it in small 20 cl bottles). And no olive brine - since it is not mentioned in the specs - and is amazing without (no comparison).

G. M. Genovese

17th September 2024 at 19:38

Second (or third) time making this. The olive brine wash has no purpose unless the olives used have a bold, distinctive (perhaps saline-briny) flavor. First time making this, the basil wasn't apparent, but the second time, a mere shaking in the tin would suffice, unless you like those extra-green flavors of the basil. Damn tasty drink overall and one could get away with reducing (either) the sugar and (or) Campari by a quarter measure.

arash ghassemi

1st October 2024 at 21:20

hey! so happy that you tried it out 3 times :) you have to brine the shit out of the glass and use black and the saltiest olive brine for it. Try to use a spray to coat the glass. You should smell the olive and have the salty taste on your tongue when you do it right.

whenever you are in berlin give us a message on lobb.berlin and i will make a curtain call for you.

Best
Arash Ghassemi

letti pearce

5th January 2024 at 17:39

We had this at New Year and I tasted it before adding the champagne and it was lovely, so I’ve also made this without the champagne as a slightly bitter beautifully pink lemon daiquiri. A winner either way!

Kathryn Foyster

2nd May 2025 at 18:16

I agree! Based on your review I tried it before adding bubbly (prosecco in my case) and really liked it. Did add a little extra sugar solution, but that’s just my sweet palate. Lovely with the fizz added too. Will definitely make again.

David Selle

6th September 2023 at 16:57

In the video Arash, rinses the glass with something but my German is poor so I can't follow. Anyone know? Even without the rinse, this is a great cocktail. I am definitely in the muddling camp on the basil.

Tobias Zajonz

29th November 2023 at 10:09

Yes, he rinses the glass with the Brine of the black olive.

Paloma Difford

6th September 2023 at 18:11

Hi David, I believe it is black olive brine which he rinses the glass with.

Paul King

1st July 2023 at 11:01

Using Select in place of Campari nicely toned down the bitterness in this wonderfully complex cocktail.

Alex Wine

20th January 2023 at 15:26

Delicious with grenadine and sweet rose sparkling wine

Matthew Short

1st January 2023 at 01:16

I liked it. My partner thought it too ‘sharp’s (I think she means boozy)

Keith Jones

17th December 2022 at 06:22

Honestly, it tastes like soap to me. But…. I do kind of like it

Ignacy Szczupal

11th September 2022 at 20:48

Subtle with notes of bitter strawberries. So elegant. The basilic is a second accent only but I think it really needs to be muddled to bring out an extra bit of bitterness. A fresher alternative to the Old cuban.

Simon Difford

12th September 2022 at 07:36

Thanks, Ignacy. I stipulate to muddle the basil in the method. Comparison to Old Cuban is a great observation and I've added a link to Old Cuban above.

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