The French 75 made a big impact when it was introduced, to say the least.
I don’t mean cocktail, I mean cannon. Before gin and champagne became involved, the French 75, officially “Matériel 75 mm Mle 1897”, was a 2,700 lb field weapon launched by the French to fight the First World War. It was a well-kept secret for years, a big leap forward in artillery technology, capable of hitting a target six miles away with a 13.7-pound projectile and – because of a newly invented hydropneumatic recoil mechanism – it could do it 15 times a minute, a combination of precision and speed that at the time was completely unprecedented. The weapon became internationally famous among soldiers and civilians, and the people of France considered it a matter of national pride that the French 75 was the weapon that helped seal the victory.
“This drink is really what won the Allied War”, he joked see how, a fun booklet of cocktails from 1927 in which the French 75 (the drink) appears for the first time. The weapon was declared the namesake of other cocktails as early as 1915, but the see how recipe is the one you took and then was reprinted in the famous Harry Craddock book Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930, it was as good as the law: gin, lemon, sugar and champagne. Craddock, always laconic, added as an etymology only four words: “It hits with remarkable precision.”
Made as it was originally – that is, a strong cocktail in which half a glass of wine was mixed – the French 75 certainly had the firepower to earn its name. Nowadays it was appropriated by the brunch set, and the tasting in most recipes has been reduced to terrestrial levels. At best, the French 75 is a brilliant and charming drink, to please the public at the highest level, with the kind of multifaceted simplicity that encourages and rewards experimentation. It is so deeply associated with the celebrations that it is practically intrinsic (drinking is, in itself, a party) and, in my personal opinion, it is an order of magnitude more sophisticated than the sickening obsequiousness of Mimosas.
Never mind that, by random historical accident, the most elegant and well-known sparkling wine cocktail of all time was named after a World War I machined steel antipersonnel cannon. These things happen sometimes.
Revenue has undergone some adjustments over the past 90 years, and there are three versions worth talking about:
The Top Shelf French 75
Photo: courtesy Beefeater
Shake the ingredients with ice. Strain into a cooled flute and cover with about 3 ounces. of chilled champagne.
Using real champagne here is the best and fastest way to make this drink the best it can be. Made as above, this is a cocktail defined by sparkling wine (especially when it warms up), and Champagne has the depth, power and grace to handle that responsibility. No matter what type of champagne, there are enough rules in that part of the world that if the bottle says “Champagne”, it will be great. In addition, a very high quality Cava or Franciacorta is possible here, as long as they are made in the traditional method and have been packaged sufficiently.
The Standard French 75
Shake the ingredients with ice. Strain into a tall glass with ice and cover with about 3 ounces. of sparkling wine.
Although almost all modern French 75s come in flutes, both the original see how and the Savoy the recipes call for the cocktail to be served in a tall glass with ice, making it a Tom Collins with sparkling wine instead of sparkling water. In fact, of the 14 examples of the 75 French that I could find in cocktail books from 1927 to 1977 and one in 2002, all but three ask that the cocktail be served with ice in a tall glass (the cocktail on the flute, which it seems, it was a product of the 80s and 90s, in the same way that that time saw everything attached with -tini and dumped in a cone with a stem).
The ice adds dilution, keeps the ice cold and reduces effervescence, but what it really does is decrease the focus on the sparkling wine. It levels the playing field – while obviously still great with Champagne, it is also exceptional with Cava or Prosecco much more affordable.
The most French French 75
Shake the ingredients with ice. Strain into a flute and cover with about 3 ounces. of champagne or sparkling wine.
Although it is a gin drink, many modern recipes for the French 75 call for “gin or brandy”. As far as I can tell, the little cognac stroke goes back to a 1948 cocktail book called The beautiful art of mixing drinks by a very obstinate tax lawyer named David Embury, who had never worked professionally in a bar one day in his life, but who nevertheless wrote a book on the subject. “Gin is sometimes used in place of cognac in this drink,” he writes, “but then, of course, it should no longer be called French.”
Whether by skill or luck, its easy observation led to a wonderful variation of the drink (truth be told, it is not difficult to find great variations here, but Cognac is really good). It has a richness and depth that, even in a flute, divides the focus with the bubbles, and extracts all the wonderful stone fruits and mineral qualities that you might not even know your Cognac contained. This is the version of the house at the French bar 75 Arnaud’s aptly named in New Orleans, and for good reason: it’s delicious.
Note here that cognac can be a little sweet, so I increased the citrus a little bit – if you think it’s a little too thin, feel free to reduce the lemon juice to 0.5 ounces.
Every week, bartender Jason O’Bryan prepares his favorite drinks for you. Check out your previous cocktail recipes.