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The reference sound of opening champagne is considered to be a light “zilch” – a hiss, not a pop, splashes and a shot of a cork into a chandelier. And it doesn’t matter if the cork of the drink is wooden or plastic. Healthy Food Near Me asked a sommelier to share ways to open champagne without a corkscrew and cotton at home.
10 ways to open champagne with a wooden or plastic cork
1. Classic way to open without cotton
You remove the foil and unroll a metal ring called a muselet. When you get to the cork, you need to rotate not it, but the bottle with your hand. Hold the bottle at an angle of 40-45 degrees. If everything is done correctly (including storing and transporting the drink without too much shaking), then the champagne will open without popping.
2. Wrap in a towel
It will act as a “silencer”, and at the same time increase the density of your efforts. This method practically does not differ from the classical method. And the secret to opening without popping also lies in the fact that you are spinning the bottle, not the cork. Only a towel is thrown over the neck at this moment. It also helps to squeeze the cork more tightly with your hand.
3. Using the knife
This method will only work with the special types of plastic corks used in cheap sparkling wines. Remove the foil, but do not unscrew the muzzle. Take a sharp kitchen knife and cut off the top of the cork that sticks out above the wire. Inside it is empty, so the drink can be immediately poured into glasses.
4. Using a muzzle
Remove the wire and unwind it into a straight line. At the end we make a semblance of a hook. With the resulting knitting needle, we make holes in the cork through and through. When punched, hook on the bottom of the cork and pull up. This method is suitable if the cork is wooden and it is chipped.
5. Swinging the cork from side to side
Another not textbook, but popular everyday way to open champagne without cotton. Hold the bottle upright with one hand. And the second swing the cork from side to side, gradually taking it out. Due to the fact that the cork goes back and forth, the pressure inside the bottle has time to slightly weaken. As a result, when the moment X comes, the champagne opens without popping.
6. Walnut or scissors
If you can’t open the bottle with your hands, then you can look for tools in the kitchen. Some open with a heavy Soviet walnut nut, holding the cork like tongs. Modern kitchen scissors often have a cutout between the finger rings, just enough to wrap around a bottle.
7. Look
This is a half-joking way to surprise guests. Before removing the foil and unscrewing the ring, you need to slightly shake the drink. Next, remove the metal “sleeve”. And that’s it – all you have to do is wait. In most cases, after about five minutes, the cork itself will shoot under the pressure of gases. And you can tell the guests that you opened the bottle with your eyes. But here, of course, it is important to create safe conditions for the “shot”.
8. With a syringe
Poke the cork with a medical needle. Then remove the syringe, but leave the needle inside. Shake the bottle and pull out the needle sharply. Place a glass first. Champagne under pressure will shoot a thin stream. The downside is that in this way it will be possible to fill only one or two glasses without a serious loss of gas.
9. Drill or screwdriver
Put the bottle on the floor and hold it with your feet. Arm yourself with a drill or screwdriver with a sharp nozzle. Drill a hole. We warn you: a drink from such impudence will immediately shoot a jet up.
10. Sabraj
A spectacular method to open champagne without a corkscrew and almost no cotton. Why almost? Yes, because the crack of glass will drown it out. Saber is French for “saber”. They say that this is how the soldiers of Bonaparte opened champagne. And then our hussars adopted a spectacular method. Therefore, it is also called “hussar”.
But it is a mistake to assume that the brave warriors simply cut off part of the glass with a sharp saber and beat the bottle. The work is more subtle. By the way, at home, you can use a large kitchen knife. The back of the blade should be hit at the junction of the seam on the bottle and the ring on the neck. Keep a knife or saber flat. Be careful as the bottle will have sharp edges afterwards.
Sommelier advice
Describes sommelier Maxim Olshansky:
– To open champagne without cotton, it must first be cooled. The ideal serving temperature is 5-7 degrees Celsius. Of course, in the professional industry and restaurants, special chambers are used for horizontal storage and cooling. But at home, a refrigerator is also suitable, in which the drink had previously lain for about a day. You can also use an ice bucket. Just be sure to dilute it with a liter of cold water. To speed up the cooling, put 3-4 tablespoons of salt. The ice will quickly begin to melt and transfer its coldness to the glass.
It is correct to open champagne by rotating the bottle, not the cork. In general, there are never any problems with sparkling wines of the middle and high price categories. Looking for non-traditional methods to open champagne is most often started by buyers of drinks in the low price segment. Manufacturers of such products save on corks, violate the classical technology of making wine, which is why you have to suffer with an autopsy later.