Black Velvet

When the British Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha died in 1861, the people mourned the death of Queen Victoria's husband. At that time, Guinness was drunk as a mourning drink by the normal population as well as by the royals, because its deep black color was supposed to express the mourning.

In order not to deny the high society the pleasure of champagne nevertheless, the barkeeper of the "Brook's Club" in London created the masked drink. So champagne was also "in mourning". Today, the drink is no longer drunk exclusively in mourning.

Preparation
A Black Velvet is prepared with equal parts of stout (often Guinness) and champagne or cider without ice.

Layered version
A Black Velvet can also be made by filling a champagne flute halfway with sparkling wine and floating the chilled stout on top of the wine. The difference in density of the liquids causes them to remain largely in separate layers.