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Drink

Virgin Mimosa

A non‑alcoholic cocktail made with sparkling cider, orange juice, lemon juice, and a sugar rim.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Virgin Mimosa

Ingredients

Directions

Frost the rim

  1. Pour a small amount of sugar onto a saucer.

  2. Wet the rim of a champagne glass.

  3. Press the glass, upside down, into the sugar to frost the rim.

Mix and garnish

  1. Pour in the cider, orange juice, and lemon juice.

  2. Garnish with lemon zest, if desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

123Calories
2 gProtein
0 gFat
31 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Orange Juice1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cidernot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Cider + orangetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together396 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Cider + lemontop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together986 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sparkling cider
Provides the fizz and a light sweet body to the drink.
Orange juice
Adds sweetness and bright citrus flavor.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the other juices.
Granulated sugar
Forms a sweet, crunchy coating on the glass rim.

The step that matters

Press the glass into the sugar. The rim must be wet so the sugar sticks evenly. Dry or uneven moisture leaves bare patches or sugar that falls into the drink.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cider, orange):

  1. Applefits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Pineapplefits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cider, orange. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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