French 75 (cocktail)

French 75 is a cocktail made from gin, Champagne, lemon juice, and sugar. It is also called a 75 Cocktail, or in French simply a Soixante Quinze (Seventy Five).

French 75
IBA official cocktail
TypeWine cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume
  • Champagne
ServedStraight up; without ice
Standard drinkware
Champagne flute
IBA specified
ingredients
PreparationCombine gin, syrup, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled champagne glass. Top up with Champagne. Stir gently.
French 75 recipe at International Bartenders Association

The drink dates to World War I, and an early form was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris—later Harry's New York Bar—by barman Harry MacElhone. The combination was said to have such a kick that it felt like being shelled with the powerful French 75mm field gun.

History
The Canon de 75 modèle 1897 is the source of the name of the cocktail

The drink with its current name and recipe developed over the 1920s, though similar drinks date to the 19th century. In the 19th century, the Champagne cup was a popular cocktail, consisting of champagne, lemon juice, sugar, and ice. Gin was sometimes added, yielding a drink much like the French 75.[1]

The drink was first recorded as the 75 in Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, 1922 edition, by Harry MacElhone, and in the same year in Robert Vermeire's Cocktails: How to Mix Them, which credits the drink to MacElhone.[2] However, the recipes differed from the current form – MacElhone's version consisted of Calvados, gin, grenadine, and absinthe, while Vermeire added lemon juice.[2]

The recipe took its now-classic form and "French 75" name in Here’s How, by Judge Jr. (1927), consisting of gin, sugar, lemon juice, and champagne.[3] This recipe was republished with the name French 75 in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), which helped popularize the drink. Some later cocktail books use Cognac instead of gin, such as The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David A. Embury.

The French 75 was popularized in America at the Stork Club in New York. It appears in the movie Casablanca (1942) and is referenced twice in the John Wayne films A Man Betrayed (1941) and Jet Pilot (1957). In 2016, it appears in the ITV series, Mr. Selfridge, which is set in London in the 1910s and 1920s.

The Canon de 75 modèle 1897 is still used in France on ceremonial occasions

A fanciful alternative story of the invention of the French 75 was related by Jean Shepherd on November 17, 1969, wherein he credits Gervais Raoul Lufbery as the inventor. The mixture, as related by Shepherd, is Champagne and Cognac on ice with perhaps a twist of lemon.[4] This version is not credible, given the documented earlier version.

Similar drinks

The recipe of the French 75 is very similar to one of the most popular cocktails, the Tom Collins, with Champagne replacing carbonated water. According to the recipe in Harry MacElhone's book Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, a French 75 is supposed to be served in a highball glass. The Highball glass, which the Tom Collins Cocktail is also served in, would support the theory of French 75 being a variation of the Tom Collins.

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References
  1. "Behind the Drink: The French 75", David Wondrich, July 09, 2012
  2. "The French 75 Cocktail — Tom Collins in a Tuxedo", by Doug Ford, October 28, 2012
  3. "1927 Here's How by Judge Jr ( 2nd impression)". euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz.
  4. Podcast 27:00
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