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Sabrage, or the act of sabering a Champagne bottle, is quite the party trick, and ICE students at our Los Angeles campus were lucky enough to learn the proper technique by Chef Lachlan.

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Though Chef Lachlan has a true Champagne saber at home, he demoed with an average chef’s blade.

“I’ve seen people do it with crazy things, like iPhones,” he says. (Though we don’t recommend that at home.)

Chef Lachlan says for maximum impact, you should hold the bottle at a 45-degree angle for two reasons: “You want it to go up and over people and not at them, and you also don’t want to lose the Champagne,” he says. “You can actually see the angle of the liquid in there when you do it — just make sure it’s not touching the stopper so you don’t lose any juice.”

The shattering problem is due to thicker bottles with thicker rings around the top, often found in less expensive brands of Champagne.

As for Chef’s Champagne of choice: “That’s hard — there’s a lot of really nice Champagnes out there,” he says, but loves the Blanc de Blancs from Shramsberg Vineyards in Napa Valley. “It’s not technically a Champagne since it’s not from the Champagne region, but it’s completely Chardonnay-based and absolutely delicious.

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