NATIONAL DAYFOOD & DRINK

National Mimosa Day

National Mimosa Day on May 16 honors the ultimate American brunch cocktail — champagne and orange juice, invented at the Ritz Hotel in 1925, a Jazz-Age creation that became the signature of weekend elegance. Simple, effervescent, bright; the mimosa is brunch in a glass. Saturday brunch may be an American invention, but the mimosa is its Paris-born cocktail heart.

MAY16

Sunday, May 16Every year on May 16

days to go

Vibe: Elegant & Effervescent
Also on May 16: Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day · Learn to Swim Day · Love a Tree Day
Hashtag: #NationalMimosaDay

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Ways to celebrate

Pour, sip, brunch:

🥂 Make the classic mimosa. Equal parts champagne and fresh-squeezed orange juice in a champagne flute. No garnish needed. Simple perfection.
🍑 Try a peach bellini. Mimosa's Italian cousin. Peach puree + Prosecco. More fruit-forward; equally refreshing.
🍊 Use fresh-squeezed OJ. The difference between frozen concentrate and fresh-squeezed OJ is staggering. Fresh OJ makes all the difference.
🥤 Go 'bottomless' at brunch. Unlimited mimosas with an American brunch entrée. Overindulgent; universally popular.
🍓 Strawberry mimosa variation. Fresh strawberry puree + champagne. Pretty and pink. Good for bridal showers.

Make it your kind of celebration

Family
Non-alcoholic mimosas for kids: sparkling water or ginger ale + orange juice. Same festive look, no alcohol.
Kids
Kids get a 'kiddie mimosa' — sparkling juice + orange juice. Brunch is for everyone.
Couples
A mimosa brunch at home: champagne, fresh OJ, eggs Benedict or French toast. The platonic Sunday morning.
Office
Saturday office brunch with mimosas. Team-building tradition. Keep the champagne moderate for professional reasons.
School
Not appropriate for school celebrations. A non-alcoholic mimosa-style beverage could work for adult faculty events.
Community
Mother's Day brunch (May 10, 2026) is the premier mimosa occasion. Make them at home or go out.
Just me
A single mimosa with toast and a book on Sunday morning is quiet bliss. No one judging. Perfect ritual.

Plan ahead

National Mimosa Day is observed on May 16 every year. Here is where it lands for the next ten years, handy for planners, marketers and party people.

2026Sat, May 16this year

2027Sun, May 16

2028Tue, May 16

2029Wed, May 16

2030Thu, May 16

2031Fri, May 16

2032Sun, May 16

2033Mon, May 16

2034Tue, May 16

2035Wed, May 16

2036Fri, May 16

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Fast facts

1925At Ritz Paris

Frank Meier, head bartender

1:1 champagne to OJ

The story

The mimosa was invented by Frank Meier, the head bartender at the Ritz Paris Hotel, in 1925. Meier was a British bartender of Austrian birth who had worked at the Ritz since 1921. His Ritz bartending manual, 'The Artistry of Mixing Drinks' (1936), codifies hundreds of classic cocktails he developed or refined. The mimosa was named for the mimosa flower (Acacia dealbata), native to Australia but popular in Riviera gardens, whose yellow frothy clusters resembled the drink's appearance.

Read the full story

The mimosa's cocktail precedent was the Buck's Fizz, created in 1921 at Buck's Club in London (2 parts champagne to 1 part OJ). The mimosa differs in using a 1:1 ratio. Both cocktails emerged from the post-WWI London-Paris hotel bartending culture that also produced the Bloody Mary (1921, Harry's New York Bar, Paris), the Sidecar (1920s, Harry's or Ritz), and the French 75 (1915, Harry's). This was the golden age of cocktail invention.

The mimosa reached America through Prohibition-era and post-Prohibition bartending culture. By the 1950s, mimosas were standard on elegant American hotel brunch menus, The Plaza, The Waldorf Astoria, The St. Regis. The mimosa was a quieter cocktail than the Bloody Mary (also a brunch classic), less assertive, more feminine in marketing of the era. American brunch restaurant culture grew alongside the mimosa through the 1970s-80s.

The 'bottomless brunch' phenomenon, unlimited mimosas included with brunch entrée, began in the 1980s at various East Coast restaurants and exploded in the 2010s. Most American cities now have dozens of bottomless-brunch restaurants. The format is culturally significant: a Saturday brunch ritual that can turn into a mid-afternoon event. Variations of the mimosa, peach, strawberry, pomegranate, grapefruit, are standard menu offerings. National Mimosa Day on May 16 honors the Parisian-born cocktail that became America's weekend cocktail.

Beyond the orange:

Global variations on the champagne-and-fruit theme:

Did you know?

Frank Meier's Ritz bar was a WWII resistance site.

Frank Meier kept serving drinks at the Ritz during the WWII Nazi occupation. A 2026 historical novel, The Barman of the Ritz, dramatizes his wartime story at the hotel.

Champagne is not required for a mimosa.

'Champagne' technically refers only to sparkling wine from Champagne, France. Prosecco, Cava, California sparkling, and cremant all work for mimosas. Real champagne is better; Prosecco is more affordable; both are correct.

Bottomless brunch became a legal question.

In 2014, a little-known New York liquor law briefly cast doubt on bottomless brunch; the State Liquor Authority then clarified an exception for brunch specials where alcohol is incidental to the event.

The mimosa is brunch-economics.

Orange juice is inexpensive; champagne is not. Mixing 1:1 effectively halves the champagne cost per serving, which is why mimosas are brunch-economic while straight champagne is a higher-priced bar option.