Last year my mom and I went on a mother-daughter trip to New York City. At one of our lunch stops, an item on the cocktail menu caught my eye: “French 75 ~ Hendrick’s gin, lemon juice, sparkling wine.” I’m not really a noon cocktails person, so I didn’t order one, but I did mentally jot the ingredients down for future experimentation. Hendrick’s, lemon juice, and sparkling wine are three of my favorite things in the world — how could a cocktail made from them not be fabulous?
It took me a while, but this weekend I finally tackled the French 75. Some of the online recipes I saw added Cointreau, another one of my favorite things, so I decided to give both versions a try.
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French 75 #1, adapted from the New York Times and DrinksMixer.com
1.5 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
1 T simple syrup
~4oz brut sparkling wine
Combine all ingredients except for sparkling wine in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake until cold and then strain into a champagne glass. Top with sparkling wine.
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French 75 #2, adapted from Blue Kitchen
1.5 oz gin
0.5 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz triple sec
1/2 T simple syrup
~4oz brut sparkling wine
Follow instructions above for the French 75 #1
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To be perfectly honest, these were both pretty disappointing! Both versions of the French 75 suffered in comparison to the fabulously delicious French 77 (lemon juice, sparkling wine, and elderflower liqueur), one of my all-time favorite cocktails. The French 75 #2 basically tasted like fizzy Cointreau — the orange liqueur completely overwhelmed everything else in the cocktail. I tried increasing the amount of simple syrup to Blue Kitchen’s recommended level, a full tablespoon, but then the cocktail became almost sickly sweet.
I preferred the French 75 #1, which is fresh and light and summery, but both my husband and I agreed that we actually liked plain Segura Viudas (one of our favorite sparkling wines) more than we liked the cocktail. I might make the French 75 #1 again if I’m stuck with a bottle of sparkling wine I don’t like and I’m out of elderflower liqueur.
One final thought. It is possible that these cocktails didn’t turn out because Hendrick’s isn’t quite the right gin to use in them. This could be one of those times when a true London dry gin like Bombay Sapphire is the only way to go. Opinions?
Hmm, i love French 75s, but I usually order them at restaurants so i don’t have any insight about making them at home. I think you’re on to something about hendricks not being quite right. I love hendricks in a gin and tonic but i don’t think it would go quite right with the sparkling wine.