We won’t be repeating our twelve cocktails of Christmas extravaganza this year, but we did want to mark the start of the holiday season with something festive.
The French 75 (or Soixante-quinze) is apparently named after a field artillery gun, because of the punch it packs. Adam sees it as a gin and tonic for the Christmas season, a time of year when you do things like substitute champagne for tonic water…;-)
I recognise it as the inspiration for last year’s A Cocktail of Two Cities, which had the same London/Paris-gin/champagne thing going on.
A simple, elegant drink, the magic of a French 75 is in the balance of ingredients: gin, lemon juice, sugar and champagne. I went for a 2 to 1 ratio of the gin/lemon mixture to champagne.
French 75
(makes 1)
- 2 oz London dry gin
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
- 5 oz Brut champagne
- a strip of lemon peel to garnish
- Whisk together the gin, caster sugar and lemon juice.
- Pour into a cocktail shaker filled with cracked ice and shake well.
- Strain into a champagne flute and top with champagne. Garnish with a strip of lemon peel.
Ten More Bites 
Sounds most festive and worthy of being the Christmas Eve cocktail. Love Adam’s clever assessment of it.
It was very tasty indeed!