A solemn, elegant pairing of dark stout and Champagne, layered so the pale sparkling wine glows beneath a velvety crown of black beer. The stout's roast and bitterness soften against the wine's dry, prickling effervescence, and the two settle into something gentle, creamy and quietly bittersweet.
Built · Champagne flute · Up
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Pour the chilled Champagne into a flute, filling it about halfway.
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Slowly float the chilled stout on top, pouring very carefully over the back of an inverted barspoon so the two beers stay in distinct layers.
The drink is credited to a bartender at Brooks's Club whose name has not come down to us, who is said to have made it in 1861 as London mourned the death of Prince Albert. The story holds that he wanted even the Champagne to go into mourning, darkening it with stout. By 1930 the pairing had earned an entry in Harry Craddock's The Savoy Cocktail Book, which set out half Guinness and half Champagne in a long tumbler with the instruction to "pour very carefully."