Champagne sabers & openers

A sabre needs no cutting edge; the mass and the flat back do the work. A length of around 57 centimetres gives enough swing without needing a big arm, and stainless steel does not rust when champagne runs over it. What matters is that the blade is straight and the back flat, because a curved back slides off the bottle.

If you want the ease without the display, the Descorjet is the other side of this collection. It clamps around the neck and pushes the cork out under control, so you hear nothing and waste nothing. Behind a bar or in a restaurant where no glass may end up on the floor, that is the safer choice.

Chill the bottle thoroughly, because colder glass is under less stress and breaks more cleanly. Remove the foil and metal cap, and find the vertical seam in the glass. Follow that seam upward with your finger until you reach the thick ring beneath the cork; that intersection is your target.

Hold the bottle at an angle of about thirty degrees, with the neck pointed away from people. Lay the back of the saber flat against the bottle, let it glide along the seam twice to practice, then strike through to the ring in one smooth motion. Do not chop; glide. The neck will fly off with the cork, and the first burst of foam will carry away any glass shards. Then pour it directly into a champagne glass or make a French 75 out of it.

Rinse the sabre after use and dry it straight away, because champagne is acidic and leaves marks on steel. Store it dry and do not leave it loose in a drawer, where the back gets damaged. A dented back no longer slides cleanly along the seam.

The Descorjet has an inner mechanism that you rinse by hand; leave it open to dry afterwards so no moisture stays in the clamp. Neither of them belongs in the dishwasher.

An opened bottle needs somewhere to go. Place it in a champagne cooler to keep it at the right temperature, and seal any leftovers with a champagne stopper. For serving, choose between the narrow champagne flute glasses and the wider champagne coupe glasses. With half a bottle, you can still make a Kir Royale or a Bellini, with the proportions listed on the recipe page. If you are unsure about the temperature or safety, the frequently asked questions below have the answer.