The French 75

[Miles]

Had a little cocktail party last night with a few good friends. As host, I decided to take a page out of history and make a classic cocktail, the French 75. Named after the WWI french artillery piece, the 75mm howitzer, this drink arrived on the scene around the late 1910's, or so the story goes. The drinks were a big hit at the party, with many people coming back for more until I exhausted my supply of lemons. Plan ahead and stock up to try this one at your next get together.

Here's the recipe that I used last night:

"French 75"

1 1/2oz gin (I selected Bombay Sapphire)
3/4oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp simple syrup (or fine sugar, if you will)
3 to 4oz of sparkling wine / champagne (nothing too fancy here)

-optional-: some of the ladies asked for a bit more sugar, so I gave them an extra 1/2tsp of the simple syrup and a dash of cointreau, too.

Shake everything but the sparkling wine with lots of ice and strain into your choice of a chilled champagne flute (no ice added) or a tall collins glass filled with ice. Gently stir in the sparkling wine and enjoy immediately.

[clubman]

These are a long time favorite of mine - they're the de facto holiday cocktail amongst our family. They do, indeed, kick like a cannon!

Your recipe is spot on; there's really nothing else you need to do as far as ingredients or preparation. I love the dryness of the drink, it's quite a singular cocktail that way!

[jlanger]

My wife loves these, though I serve them in a cocktail glass for some reason. (I think one of the original bars we got a French 75 from did it that way) It works. Recipe is spot on, just make sure you use fresh squeezed lemon juice!

[furious1]

Looks good! I'd up the gin to a full 2 oz though, to be true to the origins of the drink, which was heavier on the gin than most modern recipes. These are a real warm weather favorite of mine.

[jlanger]

Looks good! I'd up the gin to a full 2 oz though, to be true to the origins of the drink, which was heavier on the gin than most modern recipes. These are a real warm weather favorite of mine.

Well the original drink was probably with cognac and champange, no sissy sugar water and lemon, but I can imagine how that'd taste! You can make a 75 using the ingredients but substituting congac for gin. Never tried that though.

[Miles]

My oldest cocktail book from around the 1930's suggests cognac and plainly states that it can't be French with gin. Screw that, sez me. My second oldest cocktail book, a Trader Vic's bar compendium from the late 1940's calls for gin, but only 1oz.: again, nuh-uh.

Of course with cocktail history you're going to have a lot of muddled information considering the subject matter and the ones interested in chronicling them. Try tracking down the original recipe for a martini and see how far you get: clear as mud, brothers.

So as it goes, I usually like to put a range for specific amounts in a recipe unless it's for something really potent like Benedictine which needs exacting measurement. This said, boy those French 75's sure were tasty

[nolawis]

I'm a fan of the French 75 myself, although with Boodles, or in a perfect world, Plymouth.

Nw

[clubman]

A few years back, I found that you can sucessfully sub Splenda for sugar in a French 75 with no ill effects; but no matter what you do, don't use anything like Prosecco for the champagne component. It's way too sweet and screws up the flavor balance and overall dryness of the drink. Conversely, after making a batch with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot one time, I've found that using good Champagne makes a surprising difference, so don't cheap out on the bubbly (though the Veuve might have been overkill)!