French Cocktails

As we continue our tour of Cocktails from around the World we head to France; the home of Bordeaux wine, Champagne, Calvados, Cognac , Pastis, Chartreuse and several other globally renowed spirits and liqueurs. France is well regarded for its incredible passion for food and drink and, using some of its home-grown products, such as Champagne, Cognac, and Crème de Cassis, has created many wonderful cocktails over the last century. We have chosen the following 3 French Cocktails as best symbolising the great variety of flavours & ingredients that this country has become famous for.

1)French 75

This French 75 cocktail is a heady mix of gin, Champagne, lemon juice and sugar. The drink was invented by famous mixologist Harry MacElhone at the New York Bar in Paris in 1915 and legend has it that the drink got its name as its effect was said to be similar to being shelled with the powerful French 75mm field gun. The drinks recipe was first recorded in the iconic The Savoy Cocktail Book published in 1930.

Cocktail Ingredients

37 1/2 ml Gin, splash Champagne, 10 ml Sugar Syrup, 15 ml Lemon Juice

How to make a French 75 Cocktail

Chill Champagne flute with soda water. Add sugar syrup, gin and lemon juice into a mixing tin. Top up with ice and then shake for 10 seconds. Fine strain contents of mixing tin into Champagne flute and top up with Champagne.

 

2)Sidecar

The Sidecar cocktail is a classic sour drink which has experienced something of a renaissance during the last decade. The cocktail is a very tasty mix of Cognac, orange liqueur, lemon juice and sugar syrup. The history of the cocktail is debated but the most popular story is that the cocktail was invented in a Parisian bistro during World War I. This story was told by David Embury in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks(1948) who claimed that the bistro in question was the famous Harrys New York Bar plus the person who invented the drink arrived at the bar in the sidecar of a motorcycle.

Cocktail Ingredients

37 1/2 ml Cognac, 12 1/2 ml Triple Sec, 20 ml Lemon Juice, dash Egg White, 5 ml Sugar Syrup, Orange peel

How to make SideCar

Chill a coupe glass with soda water. Add all the ingredients to a mixing tin and dry shake for 10 seconds. Add ice to the tin and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Taste. Fine strain ingredients into chilled coupe glass. Zest orange peel into the drink and place orange twist into glass.

 

3)Kir Royale

Kir Royale is a popular French cocktail made with crème de cassis and Champagne and is an elegant variation on the sweet French cocktail simply known as Kir, which is named after a French clergyman called Felix Kir.

Cocktail Ingredients

80 ml Champagne, 20 ml Crème de Cassis

How to make a Kir Royale Cocktail

Add the crème de cassis to the bottom of a chilled Champagne flute, then top up with Champagne, using a bar spoon to float the champagne on top. Stir gently to combine.