The French 75 cocktail is an old-school cocktail that perfectly balances champagne, gin, and lemon together for a delightful bubbly sip!
Why We Love a French 75 cocktail
- This French 75 is a super simple, light, and refreshing drink that goes down easy.
- I highly suggest this cocktail to anyone who likes a sweet drink. The simple syrup offsets the tartness of the lemon juice and champagne and you can always add more to taste.
- I love making this drink for New Year’s Eve parties or on warm spring and summer days. It’s fancy without being a lot of work.
French 75 Ingredients
GIN: I like to use Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish gin or Tanqueray gin for this cocktail. You can use whichever gin you prefer, just pick something good-quality.
CHAMPAGNE: You want a nice brut champagne for your drink. Don’t buy the $5 bottles of André sparkling wine. Spend a little more and get a bottle of $10 Korbel sparkling wine, or really treat yourself and get a $45 bottle of Moët & Chandon or a $50 bottle of Taittinger champagne. You’ll have enough to make about 5 cocktails from each 750mL bottle.
MIXERS: To finish things off, you’ll need some lemons and simple syrup. You’ll use the lemons for the garnish and then juice them for the cocktail itself.
How to Make a French 75
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and then pour in the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Cover and shaker until chilled.
STEP 2 Strain the gin mixture into a champagne flute.
STEP 3 Slowly fill the flute with champagne so it doesn’t bubble over. Use a channel knife (or paring knife) to cut a lemon twist and place it on the rim of the glass for garnish.
Tips & Tricks
- This is a great make-ahead party cocktail. Add the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup into a pitcher, stir it all together, and store that in the fridge until the party starts. You will just need to pour the mix into flutes then top with champagne to serve, so easy! I have the amounts of each ingredient for a larger batch listed in the recipe card below.
- There are some really delicious variations you can make on this cocktail. An Air Mail uses añjeo rum, lime juice, and honey syrup. A French Harvest uses hard dry sparkling cider instead of champagne and a little extra simple syrup. An Old Cuban muddles mint leave with the simple syrup, uses lime juice and aged rum, and then adds a couple of dashes of bitters. All yummy options that are fun to try.
French 75 Recipe FAQ
What does a French 75 taste like?
This cocktail is crisp, citrusy, slightly sweet, and bubbly. All of the ingredients work wonderfully together and you can adjust the sweetness level to your taste.
Why do they call it a French 75?
The French 75 is named after the French 75mm field gun from WW1. The soldiers said this cocktail had a kick that felt like being hit by the weapon.
Other Recipes You May like
- Champagne Jello Shots
- Blackberry Mint Bellini
- Boozy Sherbet Punch
- Sgroppino Italian Cocktails
- Pineapple Mint Prosecco Punch
French 75
Ingredients
- Ice
- 1 ½ ounces gin
- ¾ ounce lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ½ ounces simple syrup
- Champagne (see note)
- Lemon twist for garnish
Instructions
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup.
- Cover the shaker and shaker vigorously until chilled.
- Strain into a champagne flute. Fill the flute with champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.
Notes
- The amount of champagne used depends on the size of the flute you use. You should plan on around 4-5 ounces per cocktail.
- Here’s a video on how to use a channel knife to make a lemon twist:Â
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-remWPgxq0
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
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