Layered Black Velvet (Stout & Champagne)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A two-ingredient London club classic from 1861: cold dry Irish stout on the bottom, brut sparkling wine floated on top so the drink sits in two clean bands — coffee-black below, pale gold above. The trick is nothing more than temperature and a slow pour over the back of a spoon. It tastes like a dry, roasty, faintly bitter mimosa, and it takes ninety seconds to build once everything is properly cold.

Ingredients

• 8 oz dry Irish stout, very cold (about two-thirds of a 14.9-oz can)
• 8 oz brut Champagne, cava, or crémant, very cold

• 1 tsp crème de cassis (for a fruitier, deeper-colored version)
• 2 strips orange zest, for expressing over the glass

Instructions

1. Chill everything hard. Refrigerate the stout and the sparkling wine at least 3 hours, until both read 38–40°F (an ice-water bath with a handful of salt gets there in about 20 minutes). Put two 8- to 10-ounce flutes or slender highball glasses in the freezer for 10 minutes. Warm liquid foams uncontrollably and the layers will muddle instantly, so do not skip this.
2. Take the glasses from the freezer and set them on a towel. If using crème de cassis, add 1/2 teaspoon to the bottom of each glass now.
3. Open the stout. Tilt the first glass to a 45-degree angle and pour 4 ounces of stout slowly down the inside wall, straightening the glass as it fills. Aim for no more than a half inch of foam on top; if you get more, wait 30 to 60 seconds for the head to settle and tighten before moving on. Repeat with the second glass.
4. Bend a teaspoon or bar spoon so it rests against the inside of the glass, bowl facing up, tip just touching the stout's foam. Pour 4 ounces of sparkling wine very slowly onto the back of the spoon so it spreads sideways and settles on top of the stout rather than punching through it. Lift the spoon gradually as the level rises, keeping the bowl just above the liquid line. Repeat for the second glass.
5. Serve immediately, undisturbed and unstirred — the layers hold about two minutes before they marble together, and the drink is meant to be drunk through both bands. If using, twist a strip of orange zest peel-side down over the surface to release its oil, then drop it in.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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