How Is A Bellini Different From A Mimosa?

Sometimes, when you're staring down the barrel of a wide-open weekend afternoon, drinking coffee isn't a strong enough way to begin your day. Fortunately, there's an all-American meal that will let you get your morning going with a spot of something stronger — brunch, everyone's favorite portmanteau. The Washington Post, referencing Farha Ternikar's book "Brunch: A History," explains that the idea of a boozy midday meal came about during Prohibition, when unwillingly sober Americans realized that they could disguise their alcohol with a bit of juice.

At around the same time, bartender Fernand Petriot invented the first bloody mary, per via Liquor.com. The bloody mary starts with a vodka and tomato juice blend, then spiced up with a slew of different seasonings, including hot sauce and horseradish. This makes it the perfect brunch cocktail for those who tend to wake up on the salty side of the bed.

However, there are also options for those who want to start their day with a sweeter drink. The bellini and the mimosa are two of the most notable sweet brunch cocktails. These drinks have been prominently featured alongside brunch spreads for decades, and though they are pretty similar, there is a key difference between them.

The bellini and mimosa both start with a base of champagne or sparkling white wine, per Harry & David. The dividing line between the two is drawn when you add the other ingredient to these two-part cocktails. In a mimosa, the bubbles are topped off with orange juice, and in a bellini, they're combined with peach purée.

According to DelightedCooking, the history of the mimosa is difficult to parse, but it likely emerged in the 1920s. The cocktail is named after the yellow mimosa flower. Harry & David explains that once an uncommon ingredient, orange juice became a popular inclusion in liquor cocktails. When bars began to have orange juice on hand more often, experimentation ensued, eventually resulting in this classic champagne cocktail.

Eataly tells us that the first bellini was invented at Harry's Bar in Venice. Peaches were plentiful in the city's surrounding countryside — specifically white peaches. The drink's name was inspired by 15th-century Italian artist Giovani Bellini, who utilized a color palette comparable to the cocktail's sunset orange hue.

As the bellini calls for puréed peach, it's likely the more labor-intensive of the two cocktails. The cocktaildudes Youtube channel shows us how to make a homemade peach purée. They blend 1 ¼ pound of peeled white peach slices with 3 tablespoons each of water, granulated sugar, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice until the mixture is smooth. The original bellini was a mixture of two parts prosecco to one part peach purée (via Eataly).

When crafting a mimosa, the exact ratio of juice and alcohol is largely up to your preference. This classic mimosa recipe calls for a two-to-one blend of sparkling wine and orange juice. However, others feel that you should be more sparing with the OJ. The TikTok account @exercisewithextrafries jokingly suggests that the perfect mimosa is a glass of champagne with the faintest hint of juice, which can be achieved by washing your glass with orange juice, spritzing it with an OJ-filled spray bottle or dropping in the juice with an eye dropper. But be warned; if you make your mimosas too stiff, your bottomless brunch could quickly transform into an inebriated evening.