Read This Before Ordering Another Mimosa
Whether you're going out to brunch or having a fancy breakfast at home, mimosas are a popular drink option. Because a mimosa is roughly 50% orange juice and, well, 50% champagne, it's perfectly acceptable to drink one before noon. These bubbly beverages have been known to pop up at weddings, barbecues, brunches, and birthday parties.
The mimosa's exact origins are unknown, as several stories have circulated. Some say the mimosa was created by a bartender in France as early as 1925, per Chilled Magazine, while others insist that Hollywood's beloved Alfred Hitchcock invented the drink in the 1940s. Regardless of how and when this citrusy champagne drink was created, we got a boozy brunch beverage, and that's what really matters.
However, if you're going to enjoy a mimosa or two (we aren't counting), you might want to first consider this fun drink's contents. And no, we aren't talking about the alcohol — we're talking about the sugar. A mimosa may not be as sweet as a pina colada, but it still packs a hefty sugary punch.
Mimosas can contain an alarming amount of sugar
While many martinis have little to no sugar in them, mimosas are a different story. According to Spoon University, the average mimosa has 10.35 grams of sugar. That's almost as much as a fan-size bag of Skittles (per Business Insider). Considering you may enjoy two or more of these orange cocktails at a Sunday brunch, you should be aware of how much sugar you're actually ingesting.
The sugar content does vary from restaurant to restaurant. BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, for example, serves a mimosa that contains only seven grams of sugar (via Fast Food Nutrition). A mimosa from Perkins contains nine grams of sugar (via MyNetDiary). And if you order a mimosa from Snooze, you're looking at as many as 17 grams of sugar in a single drink.
In short, mimosa sugar content can be all over the map because everyone makes the drink slightly differently. Some add more orange juice, some add less. Some will toy with other kinds of fruit juice, fruit puree, or fruit pieces as well. Some even add liqueur, says Inspired Taste. If you're worried about sugar, the best you can do when ordering mimosas outside of making them yourself is to ask your server for more information.