The French 75
What kind of a drink almost sparks an international incident? In the case of the 1942 classic Casablanca, it’s a French 75. At Rick’s Café Americain in Vichy France, a German officer calls for two of the cocktails while flaunting his new French girlfriend in front of a Vichy soldier. Whether the order is an insult (the drink is named for a World War I artillery gun) or just meant to get saucy Yvonne drunk (the drink, like the cannon, packs a wallop), a punch-up ensues. Owner Rick is obliged to break it up, saying, “Lay off the politics or get out.”
Don’t expect such contretemps when you ask for this weaponized Champagne cocktail, but a bit of a border dispute remains in its history. While currently accepted as a sort of French/British hybrid (wine and gin), its origins are more Gallic—and ballistic. In 1922, Harry MacElhone of Harry’s New York Bar in Paris created it with Calvados (French apple brandy), absinthe (high-proof liqueur), gin and grenadine. By 1929, the Savoy of London had ditched the brandy, liqueur and grenadine, adding lemon juice and powdered sugar and filling it with Champagne as the nod to its French side. “Hits with remarkable precision,” was the annotation in the club’s recipe book.
Still, the notion of a purer French DNA held out with patriots. For some, it’s the same drink described in the recipe here, but using French brandy, not gin. Sagely, David Embury in his The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948) wrote, “Gin is sometimes used in place of Cognac in this drink, but then, of course, it no longer should be called French.” In brokering your own détente you might even choose a French gin, like Citadelle or G’vine. Or you could lay off the politics and have it the way it tastes best to you.
The French 75
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tsps. simple syrup
2 oz. gin
Champagne
Shake gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice and strain into a coupe glass or flute. Fill with Champagne. Alternately, enjoy over ice in a Collins glass.
