French 75 Cocktail Recipe
Gin and lemon topped with Champagne — bright, bubbly and dangerously easy.
- Category: Contemporary Classics
- Glass: Flute glass
- ABV: 16%
- Difficulty: Medium
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Gin30 ml (1 oz)
- Fresh lemon juice15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Simple syrup10 ml (0.3 oz)
- Champagne60 ml (2 oz)
How to Make It
- Shake gin, lemon and syrup with ice.
- Strain into a Champagne flute.
- Top with Champagne.
- Garnish with a lemon twist.
Garnish
Lemon twist
What it tastes like
It smells of lemon and lime peel and it is carbonated.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A narrow, tall flute. The slim opening is what keeps sparkling wine fizzing longest: there is very little surface for the bubbles to escape from.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Gin
- London dry gin: juniper up front, citrus and coriander behind it. Brand really does show here — Beefeater is sharp, Hendrick's floral, Tanqueray juniper-heavy.
- Fresh lemon juice
- Freshly squeezed lemon; one lemon gives 30-40 ml. It can swap with lime, but lemon is softer and less aromatic, so use a touch more.
- Simple syrup
- One part sugar to one part water, stirred until it dissolves — no need to boil it. Keeps a month in the fridge. No syrup? Use the same amount of honey, loosened with a little water.
- Champagne
- Sparkling wine from the Champagne region. Cocktails call for brut; demi-sec noticeably sweetens the drink and makes the recipe's syrup redundant.
The Story
Named after the French 75mm field gun; popularised at Harry's New York Bar in Paris.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a French 75 mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a flute.
- How strong is a French 75?
- Roughly 16% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a French 75 be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a French 75 hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.