You may not know it yet, but the French 75 is your new favourite cocktail. It is a classic champagne and gin cocktail that ticks all the boxes. Here is our take on it.
But, What Does French 75 Refer to?
The origin of this classic cocktail, according to “Le Larousse des cocktails“, goes back to the year 1925. Like many other cocktails, the B-52 or the Depth Bomb. It borrowed its name from the military semantic field.
During World War I, the French army featured a 75 mm field gun that became famously known for its light weight: the French 75.
The canon was widely used and, over the years, many variations were created and tuned for several situations and scenarios.
Alright, back to our drink now! The recipe was actually based on another cocktail named “75 Cocktail” which did not contain champagne, but Calvados. A very strong drink if you ask me! We had to wait for Harry McElhone, owner of the Harry’s Bar in Paris, to frenchify and rebaptise this classic champagne cocktail to what we now know as French 75.
An Easy Cocktail Ready for All Terrains!
Not unlike their eponymous pieces of weaponry, the French 75’s are very popular and inspired many named or unnamed variations. Notably, you can substitute the gin with vodka and BOOM! You get a Diamond Fizz!
In the same vein, the recipe we’re sharing here is a variation. We shake instead of stirring; we ditched the sugar cane in favour of honey; we ate the cherry and used a lemon twist!
Unfortunately, I haven’t found a good alcohol-free alternative for this cocktail recipe. The best I can think of is replacing the gin and the champagne with their alcohol-removed equivalents. Please reach out to my mailbox if you have a worth-trying solution to this problem :). Otherwise, take a look at our non-alcoholic collection of drinks for additional options.
Honey Syrup
Have you ever tried using honey to sweeten a cold beverage? If so, you’ve likely noticed that it doesn’t work very well. You just end up with clumps of honey sitting at the bottom of your glass… And don’t get me started on having to clean it up!
The solution is honey syrup, also known as simple syrup. No need to buy it! All you need is honey and water. That’s it! Simply add water and honey in equal proportions into a small sauce pan and gently stir it over low-medium heat. When you get a homogeneous solution (about 5-6 min is plenty), you know it’s done. No need to bring to a boil.
Once you get the right consistency, let the syrup cool down before using it. If you are planning to make many French 75s then make enough honey syrup in advance and put it in the fridge.
Also, making this syrup at home gives you a great tool to control its sweetness and, therefore, the sweetness of your cocktail. This allows you to use a dry gin and a dry champagne which you can use in other drink recipes
Make the French 75 yours
It’s a general rule when it comes to cocktails but it’s worth saying here: feel free to play with the proportions and adjust it to your own taste! Our recipe below, as well as the original recipe, used lemon juice. But you can also use different kinds of oranges, or maybe grapefruits? I’m a sucker for a nice brut champagne but you can make this sweet gin cocktail more budget friendly by using a well chosen sparkling wine (or even non sparkling) white wine.
I’m actually going to give it a go with a sparkling red. If you try it before I do, please leave me a comment at the bottom of this page.
And there you have it! The French 75 is a bubbly cocktail, the perfect companion for any special occasion or as an afternoon apéritif. An what a sight to see!!!
What I love about this cocktail, besides its simplicity, is its gorgeous colour that makes you feel like a million dollars at no additional cost 🙂
Make sure to serve in a frozen champagne flute or a chilled cocktail glass and let the French 75 become your and your guests’ favorite drink. Don’t wait until next new year’s eve.
Santé!
French 75: Make the Best and Easy Champagne and Gin Cocktail
Description
This classic cocktail is very convenient and versatile. You can play with the gin/syrup ratio to cater for people who crave the sour taste or have a sweet tooth.
Ingredients
Honey syrup (enough to make 4-5 serves of this recipe)
Cocktail
Instructions
Honey syrup
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Put ingredients in a pan
Add the water and the honey into a small sauce pan
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Heat and stir
Put the pan over low to medium heat and stir from time to time until the honey is uniformly dissolved in the water.
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Cool down
Set aside and put in the fridge if necessary. This simple syrup can be stored in the fridge for 5 days.
Cocktail
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Shake it up!
Put the syrup and the gin in a shaker 3/4 filled with ice cubes and shake for about 20 seconds. Be generous with the ice cubes in the shaker!
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if you don't have a shaker, you can stir with a spoon until the ingredients are well blended together. -
Pour
Pour the mix into a champagne glass.
Pro tip: for the best experience, make sure to put your champagne glass(es) in the freezer about an hour before making the cocktails -
Add the champagne
top up the glass with champagne.
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Garnish (optional)
Twist and hold a lemon zest to garnish your cocktail
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Chin chin!!!!
Serve straight away and let this cocktail put you in the mood for a great evening/night !
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Put the champagne glass or flute in the freezer compartment 1.5-2 hours before serving for an even better experience.
Note
Pro tips:
- Put your champagne glasses in the freezer 1.5-2 hours before serving,
- Don't be shy with the ice cubes in the shaker,
- Slight tilt the glass while pouring the champagne very gently to avoid too much bubbles.
- Be reasonable regarding the champagne and gin you use. Keep the top shelf options for drinking on their own and appreciate the craft.
Alternatives:
- Use sugar cane syrup instead of honey syrup in case of allergy,
- Non-alcoholic version: replace the gin and the champagne with alcohol-removed equivalents,
- replace lemon with other citric fruits. If you go with a sweeter fruit then it may be worth using a champagne with lower amount of sugar. Consider brut or extra-brut,
- gin nowadays comes in so many variations. Explore what makes sense to you,
- if you don't have a shaker then simply put the ingredients in a Collins glass and use a long spoon the stir gently.
