New Year'S Champagne Cocktail: The Wintergreen Recipe

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 stems fresh mint (each has about 6-10 leaves on it)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 stems mint, leaves plucked from the stalk
• 1 slice lemon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons mint simple syrup
• 1 tablespoon cold clear creme de menthe
• Champagne, chilled
• Mint sugar for garnish
• mint leaf for garnish

1. Make mint simple syrup : put sugar, water, and mint in a saucepot, and bring to a boil, stirring so sugar dissolves. Shut off the heat, and allow syrup to come to room temperature. Remove the mint.
2. While syrup is cooling, make mint sugar by combining the sugar and fresh mint in a mini food processor. Blitz the two until completely combined into a mint-green sugar. Place the mint sugar on a salad plate.
3. Rub the slice of lemon around the rims of the champagne flutes. Dip the wet rims into the mint sugar. It should stick and form a sparkling crown on the glass.
4. Trying to avoid disturbing the sugared rim, pour 1 1/2 tablespoons mint simple syrup and 1 tablespoon clear creme de menthe into the each champagne flute. Top with champagne; be careful not to pour too quickly, or the fizz will ruin the sugar rim. Float a single mint leaf in each glass.

sugar, water, mint, sugar, mint, lemon, mint simple syrup, cold clear crueme, sugar, mint leaf

Taken from www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/12/new-years-champagne-cocktail-the-wintergreen.html (may not work)