French 75 Cocktail Adventure

“Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions,” author Hester Browne once said. “Sometimes the special occasion is that you’ve got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge.”

Well, it was actually Asti Spumante sparkling Italian white wine, but we were still excited to open the bottle. The happy occasion was getting together with our wonderful neighbor Jen for the first time since the Marshall Fire.

She brought over delicious appetizers and we toasted to survival and friendship with my riff on a French 75 cocktail. The company was fantastic. The cocktail, uh, needed work.

I’d mixed cold Vermont gin with lemon juice and ginger liqueur, topped off with Asti. The ratios were based loosely on recipes found online. The balance was off: too much gin, not enough ginger. Fortunately we had plenty bubbly left for me to try again.

Digging into the French 75 cocktail origins, the “Soixante-Quinze” that emerged sometime between 1914 and 1915 was named for the powerful French 75-millimeter field gun and contained dry gin, applejack, lemon juice, and grenadine, according to TastingTable. The Prohibition era cocktail recipe book “Here’s How!” written by Norman Hume Anthony in 1927 under the pseudonym Judge, Jr. included a “75 cocktail” that calls for powdered sugar, lemon juice, and gin (“Gordon water”) with Champagne.

Most modern French 75 recipes contain gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and Champagne, typically garnished with a lemon twist, although you can add a cherry. I’d tinkered with the cocktail in the past, before first sipping Barr Hill gin made with honey and being introduced to Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur. My thought was that the sweetness from the Asti, honey-derived gin, and ginger liqueur would eliminate the need for any simple syrup.

Asti is special in our family. The flavor is light, slightly floral, and sweet without being syrupy. It’s what my parents served at their wedding many decades ago. It’s the bottle I brought to Guillaume’s long ago to celebrate a professional move. It’s how we continue to mark big, joyous occasions in our lives.

You can make this cocktail with a drier sparkling white wine, though. We tried it with the affordable brut Fleuraison blanc de blancs and the effect was just more citrusy. My French 75 also worked with Spirit Hound gin from Lyons, Colorado.

Over time, the vessels for serving up this effervescent cocktail went from elegant tall coupes known as Nick and Nora glasses to Collins glasses and classic coupes, and finally flutes. Whatever glass you choose to raise, here’s to finding happiness no matter what’s thrown our way. Cheers!

Alyssa’s French 75
Makes one cocktail

1 oz. Barr Hill gin
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
½ oz. Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
Asti Spumante, chilled
Ice
Lemon twist garnish

Tools: Cocktail shaker, strainer, glass flute, Champagne stopper (optional).

Put the lemon twist in a Champagne flute, ideally one that holds approximately 8 ounces.

In the base of a cocktail shaker, add the gin, lemon juice, ginger liqueur, and some ice. Shake for 15 seconds and strain into the flute.

Top slowly with Asti Spumante, being careful not to overflow the flute.

Batch option: Scale up the gin, lemon juice, and ginger liqueur for the number of people you’re serving and put the ingredients in a lidded glass container. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Get a pitcher ready that is partially filled with ice cubes. Make the lemon twist garnishes. Shake the lidded glass, pour the contents into the pitcher, stir well, and divvy up the base evenly among the flutes. Top each one with Asti. There are around six cocktails’ worth in one bottle.