Breakfast of Champions: Elizabeth Taylor's Mimosa

Did the glamorous star of Hollywood’s golden age kick off her day with a cocktail? Of course she did.In the 1960s, Elizabeth Taylor often breakfasted on bacon and eggs with a mimosa cocktail on the side. As the years passed, she had to curtail her fun, and moved on to just dry toast and fruit.The mimosa is thought to have been invented in 1925 at the Ritz Paris and is traditionally made with equal parts orange juice and champagne (buck’s fizz is often more wine than juice), and sometimes with a splash of Grand Marnier, too (making it a grand mimosa). If you want to liven up breakfast with something more interesting than OJ and fizz, there are endless variations: add a dash of Angostura or orange bitters, or elderflower or lime cordial; try pink or red grapefruit juice; or abandon the citrus and use apple, pear, cherry, pomegranate, strawberry or cranberry juice. Stick to drier sparkling wines if using a sweeter juice, or the end result can be sickly.Photo Credit: Thinkstock