Best 75 French Cocktail Recipe
How to Make a French 75 Cocktail – This classic gin and Champagne recipe has a hint of lemon for a drink that’s delightfully light, crisp, and sweet!
Why We Love this Cocktail Recipe
For such a straightforward cocktail recipe, the French 75 does have an interesting history… It became a well-known beverage after World War 1 in the late 1910s – early 1920s, and was invented in New York City after American soldiers returned home from the war. The name comes from the French 75mm gun that was popular among the Allies. After the drink was introduced it wasn’t long before it was name-dropped in several movies – like Casablanca – and then quickly was available around the world.
The French 75 is one of my husband’s favorite light spring and summer cocktails. It consists of five simple elements: Gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, champagne, and a lemon twist. You can combine these elements in various ratios, but we feel this recipe is the absolute best combination!
5 Ingredients You Need
- Gin – like Hendericks gin or another high-quality brand
- Lemon juice – fresh squeezed, not the bottled stuff
- Simple syrup – store bought or try our easy recipe for Homemade Simple Syrup
- Champagne – dry is best
- Lemon twist – a thin piece of lemon peel to garnish the glass
Keep reading for some fabulous French 75 variations ideas!
How to Make a French 75
Fill a shaker with ice. Pour in the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup.
Stir well, but do not shake.
Get the Complete (Printable) Best French 75 Cocktail Recipe + VIDEO Below. Enjoy!
Pour the cocktail into a champagne flute. Fill the top of the glass with champagne, approximately 1 to 2 ounces.
Add a lemon twist to the glass and serve.
French 75 Variations
- Try another popular variation of a French 75 cocktail by swapping gin with cognac. This will give the drink a more stout flavor.
- Mix things up with other flavors of gin. Varieties like raspberry, pear, honey, or botanical options like rose or violet are all delicious!
- Instead of Champagne try other bubbly spirits. Prosecco or sparkling rose are fun choices.
- Change up the garnish and swap lemon for slices of lime or fresh mint leaves. If using other fruits or botanical gins, garnish with your choice of fruit or edible flowers.
- Use a flavored simple syrup to match whatever flavor of gin and garnishes you prefer. We have delicious variations of homemade syrups – like lemon and mint – that will pair beautifully with a French 75 cocktail.
- We love to serve these in Champagne flutes. However, a Tom Collins is also popular – or any tall glass will do!
Frequently Asked Questions
How many servings does this French 75 recipe make?
As-is this cocktail recipe makes 1 drink. You can double or triple (etc) the ingredients to make however many servings you like. But you should add the champagne last to each individual glass.
This recipe makes one average. Double, triple, or quadruple based on the size of your shaker.
What does a French 75 taste like?
Dry Champagne adds balance to the floral gin and sweet simple syrup flavors. So the cocktail is refreshing and only lightly sweet, with a vibrant tart twist of lemon. It’s a bit bubbly, but not as effervescent as just a glass of sparkling wine.
Is the French 75 strong?
Gin is a fairly strong alcohol, and has anywhere from 35% – 55% alcohol by volume (ABV). Champagne on its own only has about a 12% ABV. However, when the two are combined they do make for a cocktail with a good bit of kick.
Looking for More Classic Cocktail Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Sloe Gin Fizz Cocktail
- Salty Dog Cocktail
- Sazerac Cocktail Recipe
- Holiday Champagne Punch
- Grapefruit Sparkler
Best French 75 Cocktail Recipe + VIDEO
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin like Hendrick’s
- 1 ounce lemon juice
- ¾ ounce simple syrup
- 1-2 ounces dry champagne
- Lemon twist
Instructions
- Fill a shaker with ice. Pour in the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup.
- Stir well, but do not shake.
- Pour the cocktail into a champagne flute. Fill the top of the glass with champagne, approximately 1 to 2 ounces. Add a lemon twist to the glass and serve.
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wonderful, was looking for a fun cocktail tonight, and not too involved, this will do nicely, thank you!
this is my newest favorite drink and my new go to. thank you so much for sharing this amazing cocktail
Such a great collection! Loved how pretty these looked for Valentine’s Day!
My new favorite cocktail! I made these for our Galentine’s party and it was a huge hit!