I am something of a cocktail connoisseur; I love a good cocktail. I have had the best daiquiri in the world, I was that cliché in Havana going to El Floridita, Hemmingway’s old hangout, the cradle of the daiquiri, to try out the drink and true to form I have not found anything quite like it. Sure, it’s the same set of rules; rum, syrup, Cointreau but having it here, it hits different because I don’t care what they say there is something extra in it. maybe it’s the heart with which they make it. However, the origin of the daiquiri is one that really brings its significance home. It was invented in Daiquiri near Santiago de Cuba in the middle of a war and it was initially meant as a medicine to ward off malaria… something right? Many decades later it is both medicinal and celestial. Cocktails have their roots in prohibition as a necessity or something of the sort at the time so I am forever intrigued when flavours are mashed together to create something so elevated and classy yet so simple in its offering.
My friend Meredith recently asked me to try the French 75 and you know me, I love a challenge; say less Mer. And I had everything needed for it, at my fingertips.
Now when it comes to cocktails, the less complicated the better and no, eggs DO NOT BELONG IN COCKTAILS; this is the hill I will happily die on. Don’t even get me started on wet eggs, savages, but I draw a hardline at eggs in cocktails, doesn’t belong, doesn’t fit.
The French 75 is a solid cocktail and a classic for a reason, much like the Old Fashion or the Negroni or the Margarita… these drinks are versatile and decadent and easily adaptable to your palette
The ingredients in the French 75 are simple; you need gin, good gin is always a must in the cocktail bar, simple syrup, lemon juice and champagne. Now if legend if to be believed, the best way to have the French 75 is with cognac as opposed to gin… I tried it with both Remy and a champagne cognac like A de Fussingny and it was good, I won’t lie, it was very good, but I prefer it with gin. I tried it three ways; with Limoncello, a sparkling Sicilian lemonade and the classic.
The base is gin; a good London dry gin or an organic gin like engine. You want something with a bite but also won’t overpower, you want it to wake you up not make you howl. The Engine gin from Italy is 40% vol and perfect. And its organic I don’t know what that does but it seems a good fit.
Lemon juice; organic lemons are best
Simple syrup: to balance with the lemon so the sour mingles with the sweet
Champagne or something sparkling but preferably champagne dahling and I mean good champagne.
The Classic ’75
Measures:
- 1 oz gin
- ½ oz juice of freshly pressed lemon
- ½ oz simple syrup
- 2-3 oz champagne.
HOW TO:
- Fill s shaker with ice.
- Pour in the gin, lemon and simple syrup.
- Cover and shake until the ice is not as sharp against the shaker; about ten seconds.
- Strain and fill your glass.
- Top up with champagne.
- If you are feeling yourself are a peel of lemon to it the top to give it even more depth of flavour.
Enjoy.
I didn’t stop there, I had all the things to road test this cocktail in different ways so on my second go round, I used Limoncello and also some sparkling Sicilian sparkling lemonade from M&S which really is a top tier fizz.
With Limoncello:
- 1 oz gin
- ½ oz limoncello
- ½ oz simple syrup
- 2-3 oz champagne.
- Rind of lemon
How to:
- Fill a shake with ice
- Pour in the gin, limoncello and simple syrup
- Shake until the ice is a dull thud not sharp
- Strain into a flute
- Top up with champagne.
- Twist a rind of lemon on the top.
- Enjoy
Result: I liked this, but it was a little too sweet for my liking, and I say this as someone who has a sweet tooth. As my friend tipped; I tampered it down with some Dash fizzy water, lemon, just a dash and topped with champagne and it was much better.
With Sicilian Lemon sparking:
As you would the limoncello, substitute this sparkling lemon for the lemon juice, it is important, very important that it is this sparkling lemonade from M&S because it’s so good.
Measures:
- 1 oz gin
- ½ oz simple syrup
- 1 oz sparkling Sicilian lemonade
- 2 oz champagne
HOW TO:
- Fill a shaker with ice
- Pour in the gin
- Pour in the simple syrup and shake
- Strain into a flute or coupe or martini glass
- Pour in the sparkling Sicilian lemonade
- Pour in the champagne.
- Twist a rind of lemon if you’re feeling fancy… et voila.
Overall:
The classic is a classic for a reason, and we don’t mess with it because this is such divine cocktail, so the classic remains tried, tested, true, and undefeated. Now the Sparkling lemonade spin though… that goes down a treat! And it works.