Place a sugar cube or ½ teaspoon sugar in each of two champagne or coupe glasses. Add 2 dashes of bitters and 1 ounce brandy or gin to each glass. Squeeze a wedge of lemon into each glass and discard the wedge. Stir.
Pour half of the champagne into each glass, then twist one orange strip over each glass and drop it in. Serve.
Notes
Orange, or lemon, twists are simply strips of zest that are twisted over cocktails to release their potent oils and flavor the drink. You can use a vegetable peeler to remove strips about 2 inches long from the fruit. Take care to just remove the bright orange (or yellow) zest, and leave the bitter white pitch behind. You can also do this by cutting off each nubby end of the fruit and using a sharp paring knife to carefully slice down the fruit, removing strips of the zest.