French · Drinks · SAMPLE RECIPE

French 75 · gin, lemon & Champagne

A bright gin-and-lemon base topped with chilled Champagne. Fine bubbles lift this pale, lightly sweet cocktail without an elaborate garnish.

From The Saucey Life kitchen • Serves 2

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Pale straw-colored French 75 in a slender Champagne flute with small natural bubbles, no ice and no garnish — AI-generated serving inspiration for a sample recipe.

PREP7 min

TOTAL7 min

SERVES2

A NOTE FROM THE KITCHEN

Shake the base; add Champagne afterwards.

This is the familiar gin version, finished with brut Champagne. Some bars use Cognac or another dry sparkling wine; those make a different variation. The Champagne and ready-to-use equal-weight sugar-and-water syrup are already chilled before preparation begins.

Ready to get started? The ingredients and steps are right below.

LET’S MAKE SOMETHING GOOD

French 75 · gin, lemon & Champagne

Sample recipe awaiting kitchen testing. Timings are estimates. Contains alcohol.

The good part

Check off each step as you cook.

Chill the flutes.Fill Champagne flutes of at least 180 ml capacity with ice while measuring the still ingredients. Keep the Champagne chilled.
Shake the citrus base.Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake for about 10–15 seconds until very cold.
Strain, then top.Discard the ice and meltwater from the flutes. Strain the base evenly into them, then slowly add the measured Champagne. Give each a single gentle lift with a spoon if needed and serve without garnish.

0 of 3 steps complete

BEHIND THE DISH · French associations and transatlantic bar traditions

French 75 · gin, lemon & ChampagneBeyond the plate.

Gin and lemon form a short base for a Champagne cocktail with a long, fine stream of bubbles.

ORIGINS & EVOLUTION

A name shared by evolving recipes.

The French 75 has several competing origin accounts, and earlier drinks bearing similar names were not always the mixture familiar today. The gin, citrus, sugar, and Champagne version was in circulation by the 1920s and appeared in the influential Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930.

CULTURAL CONTEXT

Gin and Cognac both have followers.

Some bars make their French 75 with gin, while others favor Cognac. Glassware and serving ice have varied too. These traditions make it more useful to state the chosen version than to insist that every French 75 has always looked the same.

AT THE TABLE

A gin version in a chilled flute.

Our recipe uses the International Bartenders Association proportions and brut Champagne. Only the gin, lemon, and syrup are shaken. Champagne is added after straining, with no garnish or ice in the finished glass.

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