All of which explains my puzzlement when, while perusing a Serious Eats listicle of “25 Cocktail Recipes Everyone Should Know,”<\/a> I was completely befuddled by one entry: the French 75.<\/p>\n Never made it. Never had it. Never heard of it. <\/p>\n Admittedly, no bartender except Samuel “Mayday” Malone<\/a> can possibly know how to make every cocktail ever invented. But this French 75 thing is supposedly a classic. It’s known as the most famous American cocktail invented during Prohibition. It even makes a cameo appearance in Casablanca<\/em> (it’s the drink Yvonne’s Nazi boyfriend orders for them<\/a>.). As barfly and boozehound Michael Dietsch<\/a> puts it, “If you’re a cocktail geek, and you don’t have the French 75 in your repertoire for parties, I’m sorry, but you’re not a cocktail geek.”<\/p>\n Clearly I wasn’t. Until now.<\/p>\n For those who have had a French 75 recently, it was probably prepared with a base spirit of cognac and a splash of sparkling wine, served neat in a champagne flute. But that’s not how the original was made. The earliest mention of a “75” cocktail (“very popular in France during the war, and named after the French light field gun”) came in Harry MacElhone’s Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails<\/em><\/a> in 1919. But that drink consisted of grenadine, absinthe, calvados, and gin, and was served in a cocktail glass.<\/p>\n A more recognizable incarnation appeared in 1930 in the Savoy Cocktail Book<\/em><\/a> by Harry Craddock, with gin, lemon juice, and sugar, topped off with champagne. (Note: All the best bartenders are named Harry. No offense, Mayday.)<\/p>\n The difference between the 1930 version and what’s typically offered up today? Craddock served his in a Collins glass filled with cracked ice instead of a flute with no ice. And since the 1940s, cognac seems to have replaced gin as the base of choice.<\/p>\n How to decide? I have my preference, but in recent years I’ve become rather Unitarian in my approach to cocktail construction–that is, your truth is your own, with respect for all.<\/p>\n So, traditional or modern? Cognac or gin? Glass or flute?<\/p>\n The correct answer, whatever the case, is oui.<\/em><\/p>\n 2 ounces gin In a mixing glass filled with ice, stir together the first three ingredients. Pour into a champagne flute and add the bubbly. Garnish with a lemon twist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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<\/a><\/h3>\nFrench 75 Ma Fa\u00e7on<\/h3>\n
\n1\/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
\n1\/2 teaspoon simple syrup
\n4 ounces chilled sparkling wine
\nLemon twist for garnish<\/p>\n