Why you are pouring this tonight
The French 75 is the cocktail named after the seventy-five-millimetre French field gun used in the First World War, because the first sip is supposed to feel like a hit from one. Gin, lemon, sugar, chilled champagne, lemon twist. The cocktail that has outlived its origins, its critics, and most of the bars that made it famous.
Real champagne is the technique. Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label at the everyday tier, Billecart-Salmon at the upgrade, a Tasmanian sparkling (Jansz, Arras) at the Australian flex. Don’t use prosecco; the bubbles are wrong and the drink loses its kick. Use a London Dry gin (Beefeater, Tanqueray). Build gin, lemon and simple syrup in a shaker with ice, shake briefly, double-strain into a chilled flute, top slowly with very cold champagne, lemon twist expressed over the surface. Pair with brunch, oysters, smoked salmon.
What you need
- 30 ml London Dry gin. Tanqueray at $55 or Beefeater at $50 are both excellent. Four Pillars Rare Dry if you want to lean Australian. The gin should be juniper-forward, not floral. This is not the drink for a soft modern gin.
- 15 ml fresh lemon juice. Always fresh. Bottled lemon juice ruins this drink faster than almost any other.
- 10 ml sugar syrup. Equal parts sugar and hot water, stirred until clear. Keeps in the fridge for a month.
- 90 ml cold Prosecco, Cava, or Champagne. Prosecco Brut is the Australian weeknight choice (Dal Zotto Pucino, Brown Brothers, Zilzie). Cava works beautifully. If you are opening Champagne, a non-vintage brut like Pol Roger or Veuve.
- Ice for the shaker.
- A long lemon twist to garnish. Peel one long strip with a vegetable peeler, from the top of the lemon to the bottom, no pith.
How to make it
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Chill the flute. Put a champagne flute or coupe in the freezer for ten minutes, or fill with ice water while you build the drink. Every part of this cocktail wants to be cold.
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Shake the gin base. In a cocktail shaker, combine the gin, lemon juice, and sugar syrup with a handful of ice. Shake hard for ten to twelve seconds. You want it properly cold and diluted.
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Strain into the flute. Empty the ice water from the chilled flute and strain the shaken base in through a Hawthorne strainer. It should fill about the bottom third of the glass.
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Top with sparkling wine. Slowly pour cold Prosecco or Champagne down the side of the glass to fill. Pour slowly or you lose the bubbles.
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Garnish and serve. Drop in the long lemon twist so it spirals down through the drink. Serve immediately while it is still aggressively cold and fizzing.
Five dinners that make this drink sing
- A dozen oysters on ice with mignonette and lemon. The drink is already built like an oyster accompaniment. Cold, citrus, mineral, dry. Serve it as the welcome drink and keep pouring.
- Smoked salmon blini with creme fraiche and dill. A classic drinks-party pairing. The acidity of the French 75 cuts through the rich salmon and cream, and the lemon twist mirrors the garnish on the blini.
- Steak tartare with capers, shallots, and sourdough. Punchy raw beef needs something bright and cold. A French 75 handles it better than any wine under $80.
- Roast chicken with lemon and thyme. Sunday lunch, upgraded. Pour one with the first carving and watch a roast chicken suddenly feel like an occasion.
- Shellfish towers, whole seafood platters, or a plate of prawns with aioli. Any cold seafood with good lemon in the mix works. This is the default pour at a seafood lunch on the deck.
Three small variations worth knowing
Cocktail
The French 76
Swap the gin for vodka. Same lemon, same syrup, same sparkling. Softer, cleaner, more neutral. Excellent with rich French food like coq au vin or beef bourguignon where you want the acidity but not the herbal gin edge.
Read the recipe →
Cocktail
The Elderflower 75
Replace the sugar syrup with 10 ml St-Germain elderflower liqueur. Floral, slightly sweeter, spring-lunch perfect. Brilliant with whole poached trout, asparagus with hollandaise, or a fresh pea risotto.
Read the recipe →
Cocktail
The Ruby 75
Add 10 ml of Chambord or fresh raspberry puree at the base of the flute. Pour the French 75 over. The colour is a deep pink gradient and the berry note is gorgeous with a dark chocolate fondant or a piece of strawberry tart at the end of a long lunch.
Read the recipe →Bottles worth buying for this
A solid London Dry gin (Tanqueray, Beefeater, Four Pillars Rare Dry) is the spine. It doubles as your Martini, Negroni, and Gin and Tonic base. Stock one.
Sparkling wine matters more than people admit. Dal Zotto Pucino Prosecco at $25 from a decent bottle shop is a genuine upgrade over supermarket Prosecco. Brown Brothers at $22 is the backup. For Champagne, a non-vintage Bollinger Special Cuvee or Pol Roger Brut if the occasion calls for it.
Tanqueray London Dry Gin
The French 75 gin. London Dry juniper and a backbone of 47.3% alcohol that can hold its own when the lemon juice and champagne both try to push it out of the glass. This is not a drink that flatters a soft gin.
Read more →
Dal Zotto Pucino Prosecco NV
The weekday upgrade. A dry Italian prosecco from the King Valley that gives you the fine bubbles and mineral dryness a French 75 needs without Champagne money. Best served from a cold fridge into a cold flute.
Read more →You might also like
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The French 75
Ingredients
Method
- Chill a champagne flute or coupe in the freezer.
- Combine gin, lemon juice, and sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice.
- Shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
- Strain into the chilled flute.
- Top slowly with cold sparkling wine, pouring down the side of the glass to preserve bubbles.
- Drop in a long lemon twist. Serve immediately.