French 75 Recipe: Champagne Cocktail + Fascinating History

French 75 Recipe: Champagne Cocktail + Fascinating History
A refreshing and super-simple cocktail recipe that packs a punch. Our weekly recommendation, and one year anniversary of the series!

This is the fifty-third entry in this cocktail recipe series, which means we’ve been running “It’s Friday … Have a Drink” for one year, now. Happy birthday to us!

This cocktail, along with the venerable Champagne Cocktail and the recently recovered Seelbach, sits at the top of the list of classic drinks made with sparkling wine. It’s essentially a gin fizz made with champagne instead of club soda, but there’s nothing wrong with that!

The drink is named after the famous French 75 mm field guns used extensively in World War I. I can only assume it got its name because like those guns it packs a substantial wallop. Two full ounces of 90-proof gin on top of a glass of sparkling wine is not a lightweight drink!

French 75 Field Gun cocktail history

As with most citrus drinks, I tend to go light on the juice. I think it makes for a more elegant cocktail. If the recipe below isn’t tangy enough for you, then feel free to drop another quarter ounce in.

French 75 cocktail

French 75 Cocktail Recipe

A bright and refreshing cocktail that also packs a punch
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 1 Drink

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients in a chilled champagne coupe and stir thoroughly.
  • Top with sparkling wine, stirring gently.
  • Garnish with a lemon twist.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

This article is a modified and enhanced version of a post that ran on my nightly cocktail blog, DrinkShouts. Liquors in parentheses are what I used when I made this recipe, and are included as suggestions.

Christopher Buecheler

Christopher Buecheler is a novelist, a web developer, an award-winning amateur mixologist, a brewer, a guitarist, a drummer, and an NBA enthusiast. He lives a semi-nomadic life with his wife and two cats, currently residing in Providence, RI. You can learn more at his website, cwbuecheler.com.