Keeping the fizz in champagne

Champagne is all about its sparkle. You can drink flat champagne, it hasn't gone ‘bad’ and it won't make you tipsy so quickly, but it will lack its very essence.

Serve champagne in tall flutes to enhance the bubbles; they dissipate rapidly in a shallow coupe.

It's a myth that a teaspoon dropped into the neck of the bottle preserves the fizz.

There are only two tried and tested ways to stop champagne going flat. One is to use a champagne saver—like a cork, but with a clamping mechanism to seal the bottle. The other is to drink it!