How To Make Cognac French 75
I admit, I wont pop a bottle of $50 Veuve Cliquot to top this easy champagne cocktail. Instead, I opt for a very reasonably priced facsimile This Cremant de Bourgogne is about $9 at Trader Joes. After you make a few cocktails, seal it up with a champagne cork and save the rest for brunch spritzers the next day.
This Powerful Blend Of Spirits And Flavors Is So Potent That Its Very Name Came From Artillery Used During World War I
It’s a classic cocktail that packs a punch but is oh, so delicious.
When folks say the French 75 cocktail really packs a punch, theyve got an artillery of history to back them up. Created back in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris later known as Harrys New York Bar the drinks original combination of gin, Champagne, lemon juice and sugar was said to deliver such a kick that it felt like you were being shelled by the powerful quick-firing French 75mm field guns used during World War I.
And while a legendary cocktail was born back then, its a classic restaurant and bar in New Orleans, Arnaud’s, that perfected the recipe to make it the popular drink enjoyed in Louisiana today.
Although theres ongoing debate about what the base spirit of a French 75 cocktail should be gin or Cognac we believe it wouldve been Cognac since its very name was inspired by the French during the war. So says Katy Casbarian, co-owner of Arnauds, a fourth-generation grand dame Creole restaurant in New Orleans whose swanky French 75 Bar has become known as THE place to enjoy the beloved modern iteration of this storied drink. The bar is so revered, in fact, that it has won the coveted James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program and has been named One of the Top Five Bars in the Country by Esquire Magazine.
Who Invented The French 75
Cocktail history has long said that the French 75 was created by Harry MacElhone. The Scottish owner of Harry’s New York Bar in Paris and author of numerous 1920s bartending guides is known for creating many great drinks. While he took credit for the sidecar, old pal, Boulevardier, and even the bloody mary, in his book, “The ABC of Mixing Drinks,” MacElhone wrote that the French 75 was first created at Buck’s Club in London.
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French 75 A Bubbly Classic Cocktail
Ah, lets get to it. The French 75: the third most well-known Champagne cocktail after the Mimosa and the Bellini.
But to me, it far surpasses those other drinks, in part because its fortified with some harder stuff. Whether that hard stuff should be gin or cognac is a matter of debate.
Its a classic cocktail that first appeared in print in the middle of Prohibition in a booklet called Heres How .
That version included Gordon water , lemon juice, powdered sugar , cracked ice, and Champagne and jokes that this drink is what really won World War I for the Allies.
The joke certainly plays on the fact that the drink is named for a piece of quick-firing field artillery called the French 75 or simply 75 used by the French and Allies in the war.
While the gun may have been the first modern piece of field artillery, the drink was the only classic cocktail to make its debut in the United States during Prohibition.
The drink appeared again in 1930 in the Savoy Cocktail Book, again with gin, but was popping up with cognac in recipes by the end of that decade.
Its unclear exactly how the same drink ended up with two different base spirits.
Unlike, say the Sazerac which switched from being cognac-based cocktail to being a rye-based cocktail because a wine blight in France made cognac hard to come by for a while, theres no obvious sourcing problem with gin or cognac in the 1930s.
The gin version is dryer, the cognac richer and sweeter.
Cheers!
Recipe: Arnauds French 75
A French 75 is a wonderful thing. Fizzy, refreshing, and just boozy enough, its a cocktail we can get behind. And were in good company: Papa Hemingway was a fan, and so was Dickens .
But what if we told you there was a way to make this delightful sipper even better? Most French 75 recipes call for gin , but Chris Hannah, the bartender at Arnauds French 75, uses cognac instead and we can report that its absolutely delicious.
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Which Came First: Gin Or Cognac
Its a boozy conundrum, to be sure! The confusion is this: The first time the French 75 appeared in print , it called for gin. But the cocktail itself most likely predates this publication date, and many historians and aficionados, Hannah included, believe that the original drink was actually made with cognac.
Later recipes go back and forth The Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930 says gin The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks insists on cognac but eventually gin prevailed as the most common base spirit for the cocktail.
Fun fact: The name for the French 75 comes from the 75-millimeter howitzer, or field gun, used by soldiers in World War I.
French 75 For A Crowd
Planning for a crowd and dont want to be pouring drinks all night? Consider making a big batch of French 75s.
To make 8 servings in advance: combine 1 ½ cups gin, 1 cup fresh lemon juice, and ½ cup simple syrup in a pitcher. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
To serve, pour 3 ounces of the cocktail into a champagne flute. Top with 23 ounces sparkling wine.
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A French 75 Cocktail With Cognac You Better Believe It And Check Your History
- Prep Time:5 minutes
- 1ouncePierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac
- 1/4ouncefresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4ouncesimple syrup
- 4ouncesChampagne
Directions
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How To Make A French 75
Place a sugar cube or ½ teaspoon sugar in each of two champagne or coupe glasses. Add 2 dashes of bitters and 1 ounce brandy or gin to each glass. Squeeze a wedge of lemon into each glass and discard the wedge. Stir.
Pour half of the champagne into each glass, then twist one orange strip over each glass and drop it in. Serve.
French 75:
- 1cupchilled champagne or sparkling wine
- 2orange twists, for garnish
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Where Was The French 75 Invented
Its believed that the French 75 was invented at Harrys New York Bar in Paris, France back in 1915. The French 75 is one of many classic cocktails to come out of that bar including the Sidecar, Bloody Mary and Monkey Gland.
The original cocktail was much boozier than the one often served today. The name is meant to compare the kick of the bozzy drink to feeling like you got shelled with a French 75mm field gun. The original drink was made with gin, apple brandy, grenadine and lemon juice.
How To Make A Lemon Twist
Want to impress your guests with a fancy garnish on their cocktail rim? Adding a lemon twist is a simple way to bring the wow-factor.
- Use a vegetable peeler and remove a three to four inch portion of lemon peel.
- Slice the lemon peel into strips by running a paring knife lengthwise down the peel.
- Twist the lemon peel around your finger or a straw to create a spiral.
- Garnish as desired .
You can also use a channeling knife which is traditional, and I think, easier!
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Recommend: Serve In Champagne Glass
Often called champagne flute. The tapering rim of this tall, thin glass is meant to keep the Champagne’s bubbles in the glass for a longer period of time. Flutes carry 7 to 11 ounces of liquid.Champagne flutes are also ideal for showcasing the garnish of a cocktail. When a long lemon twist is coiled within the glass, it looks magnificent.
Cheers ! Enjoy your drink !
A Classic With Cognac And Champagne For V
Ever since it was published in The Savoy Cocktail Book and infiltrated the top bars in Paris and New York, the French 75 has reigned as one of the most elegant Champagne cocktails. Though some today try to serve it with gin as the base, Cognac is not only a far better choice in terms of flavor, but it was the original spirit used back in the early 1920s. However, there are other ways to make this drink even more decadent.
If there is one city that has carried on the tradition of the French 75 more than any other over the past century, it’s New Orleans. At Restaurant R’evolution, just a few doors down from the historic Arnaud’s French 75 bar in the French Quarter, they finish this cocktail with a choice of three top Champagnes. Beverage director Molly Wismeier explains the subtle differences in how the Dom Perignon 2000 “creates a toasty, warm brioche” effect, while the Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2004 is more “lively filled with citrus layers,” and how perhaps the most approachable option is the non-vintage Bourgeois-Diaz, providing an offering with “less mineral and body.”
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What Is A French 75
The French 75, or at least the one we know today, is a bright and refreshing boozy champagne cocktail. Boozier than your standard mimosa brunch cocktail, the French 75 is still very acceptable to drink before noon, at least in my opinion.
Today, the 75 is made by combining gin , fresh lemon juice and simple syrup in a Champagne flute and topping it off with sparkling wine.
Variations Of The French 75 Drink
- French 76: essentially the French 75 made with vodka instead of gin.
- French 77 is a riff on the classic, using St. Germain instead of gin and skipping the simple syrup altogether.
- French 75 with cognac: also called Arnauds French 75 or French 125. To make this, swap the gin out for cognac.
- French Harvest: instead of topping with champagne, top with dry sparkling apple cider.
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Why Is French Called 75
Sometimes a French 75 is called a 75 cocktail or in France, a Soixante Quinze. It was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris by a bartender named Harry MacElhone . Supposedly the drink was so named because the cocktail was said to have a kick that resembled being shelled with the powerful French 75-millimeter field gun which is a little unsettling, but there you have it. It became very popular at the Stork Club in New York City, and has appeared in movies such as Casablanca.
Arnauds in New Orleans serves up a famous French 75 made with cognac. Apparently if its made with vodka it becomes a French 76, and if its made with whiskey its a French 95. Mixologists have been playing around with all sorts of different liquors in this drink, so you should feel free to do the same.
French 75 Drink Recipe
Complete drink recipe for Cognac based cocktail is mixed with 3 extra ingredients : Lemon juice, Sugar, Champagne in Champagne glass
If you are going to order French 75 in a bar, dont forget to mention all the ingredients to the bartender. French 75 can be served with different ingredients in different places.
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What Makes This The Best French 75
My version stays very true to the traditional cocktail by still featuring gin, lemon juice and a simple syrup. However, instead of a basic simple syrup I up the ante by making a lemon simple syrup.
To make the lemon simple syrup I use the spent lemon halves to infuse the simple syrup. To do this, the lemon halves are simmered with the sugar and water for a couple of minutes. After that, the mixture is removed from heat and the lemons steep in the syrup until its completely cooled.
What Is A French 75 Cocktail
French 75 is a cocktail traditionally made with gin, champagne, bitters, lemon juice and sugar. Renowned mixologist Nick Mautone says that over the years brandy or cognac has become the more popular spirit in this drink, replacing the gin. The drink was named after a piece of French artillery used during World War I. Now its become very popular again at classic bars, and also gets ordered often as a brunch drink.
Make sure to use fresh citrus in this drink fresh lemon wedges and fresh orange twists. The better the quality of alcohol, the better drink .
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How To Enjoy A Rmy 75
The French 75 is a surprisingly simple cocktail for how complex it tastes on the first sip. And as we ease back into responsibly socializing, having a go-to cocktail means less time preparing for entertaining and more time actually enjoying moments with friends or family.
Cognac brings the jubilant spirit of the Roaring Twenties into today, admittedly with less raucous implications. You can make a single Rémy 75 to savor yourself or a round for a small gathering, on a summer evening that just might feel more hopeful again. A simple recipe is below, and with that, youll be ready to toast the coming summer and whatever it might bring for you. Santé!
How To Make An Orange Twist
Orange, or lemon, twists are simply strips of zest that are twisted over cocktails to release their potent oils and flavor the drink. You can use a vegetable peeler to remove strips about 2 inches long from the fruit. Take care to just remove the bright orange zest and leave the bitter white pith behind. You can also do this by cutting off each nubby end of the fruit and using a sharp paring knife to carefully slice down the fruit, removing strips of the zest.
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What Is Simple Syrup
- Simple syrup is a combination of equal parts sugar and water.
- You can purchase simple syrup at the liquor store or even the grocery store. But dont.
- Its so much more economical to make your own at home .
- To make simple syrup: Combine 1:1 ratio of sugar and water in a pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature and store in a clean jar with a lid.
- It doesnt go bad. Keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge or in your liquor cabinet. Doesnt matter. Itll be ready when you are!
For this cognac cocktail, I chose a nice VSOP . This one was a moderately priced bottle, around $31.
What Type Of Glass To Serve A French 75 In
It is most often served in a champagne or coupe glass, though originally it may also have been served in a highball glass. A highball glass holds a lot more liquid, and this doesnt often get served over ice, so one could imagine that would be a lot of alcohol! Play it safe, and adorable, and serve it in a champagne glass. Any kind of champagne glass will work, from a flute to a coupe.
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One Of The More Lethal Classic Champagne Cocktails
Named after a French gun used in World War Ia not-so-subtle nod to the drinks lethalnessthis Champagne cocktail was made famous at Harrys New York Bar in Paris in the early 1900s. Some historical records cite cognac as the original base spirit, which would make sense on account of the drinks Gallic origins. Somewhere in translation, however, gin became a common base, though many bars, including French 75 bar in New Orleans, still use cognac as the base.
- 2 ounces cognac or gin
- 2 ounces cognac or gin
- 1/2 ounce lemon juice
- 1/4 ounce simple syrup
- 1/4 ounce simple syrup
- 3 ounces sparkling wine
- 3 ounces sparkling wine
Garnish: long, curly peel of lemon
Directions
Editor’s Note
Whether making a cognac or gin French 75, a dry sparkling wine is preferred. Should you be using bubbly with a bit more residual sugar, adjust the simple syrup measurement down accordingly. Use a channel knife to create the perfect long, loopy peel of lemon.
From The Roaring Twenties To 2021
Cognacs luxury reputation should have made it a constant staple for craft cocktails throughout the decades, yet many of todays cocktail-drinkers arent as familiar with how to enjoy it. So for starters: Cognac is a brandy, distilled from grapes grown in idyllic vineyards in southwestern France. The grapes become a low-alcohol white wine, which is distilled twice in small copper stills. That creates high-alcohol distillates known as eau-de-vie that are aged in oak barrels: some for years, others for decades. Cognac, with fruity and floral notes balanced by weight from aging, could appeal to any adult who appreciates the depth of a fine whiskey, the nuanced sweetness of an aged rum, or the finesse of a beautiful wine.
Cognac is perfect for mixing with other grape-based ingredients, like Champagne in the French 75. The history of that cocktail, though, is steeped in lore with suspect facts. We know that by the height of the Roaring Twenties, a gin-based French 75 had found its way into cocktail books. In the 1948 book The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, which many bartenders consider to be canon, we specifically see a Cognac-based 75. Gin is sometimes used in place of Cognac in this drink, the book reads, but then, of course, it should no longer be called French.
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