French 75
Gin, lemon, sugar and Champagne — named after a field gun, and it hits about as hard.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Chill a flute.
Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake hard for 10-12 seconds, then double strain into the chilled flute.
Top slowly with cold Champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.
A thoughtful finish
- Shake the gin, lemon and sugar; never shake the Champagne. Build the sour, strain it, then top.
- Keep the gin pour modest. At an ounce the drink stays a Champagne cocktail; at two it becomes a gin sour with bubbles.
- Chill the flute and the wine properly. There is no ice in the finished drink, so everything has to arrive cold.
Common mistakes
- Shaking the Champagne, which flattens it and can blow the shaker open.
- Serving it in a coupe and over-topping, so the drink goes still within a minute.
- Using a sweet sparkling wine on top of the syrup, which makes it cloying. Brut is what you want.
A few good questions.
Gin or Cognac?
Gin is the standard modern build and the one the IBA lists. A Cognac version is widely served in New Orleans and is genuinely good — rounder and less aromatic. Both have a real claim to the name.
Can I use Prosecco or Cava?
Yes. Prosecco makes a softer, fruitier drink; Cava is drier and closer to Champagne. Use brut in either case.
Flute or coupe?
Flute, traditionally, because it preserves the bubbles. A coupe looks better and goes flat faster. This is a genuine matter of preference.
Why is it called a French 75?
After the Canon de 75 modèle 1897, the French quick-firing field gun of the First World War. The drink's strength relative to how easily it goes down is the joke.
Variations
- French 76 — Vodka in place of gin.
- French 125 — Cognac in place of gin — the New Orleans build.
- Air Mail — Aged rum, honey, lime and Champagne.
- Seelbach — Bourbon, triple sec, heavy bitters and Champagne.
Where it comes from
c. 1915-1930 · Paris, France · Harry MacElhone · Harry's New York Bar
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
The name comes from the French 75mm field gun of the First World War, a famously quick-firing artillery piece, and the drink is said to have been named for the kick. The attribution to Harry MacElhone at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris is widely repeated but thinly documented. What is documented is the recipe’s path through print: a ’75’ Cocktail appears in MacElhone’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails in 1922 made with gin and calvados and no Champagne at all, and the modern build — gin, lemon, sugar, Champagne — is printed in Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. Whether the two are the same drink evolving or two drinks sharing a name is unresolved.
Sources
- Harry MacElhone, ABC of Mixing Cocktails, 1922 (book)
- Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930 (book)
- IBA Official Cocktails list, current (standards body)
Strength. About 1.33 US standard drinks at an estimated 13.5% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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