cocktail review no. 69 - French 75

You thought I was going to do something dirty for this review, didn't you?

Admit it, you perverts, the only reason you even clicked over here is because of the number in the title, am I wrong? (I'm sure the word "French" doesn't hurt either.)

Well, my apologies. If you crept in here hoping to see a couple of French chicks doing something kinky, you're out of luck. This is the dirtiest you're going to get: the French 75 cocktail.

It's a classic one...or perhaps I should say a vintage one. You remember that coffee table book Vintage Cocktails I keep raving about? The one Miss H and I picked up at the Anthropologie in Victoria Gardens nearly two years ago?

The French 75 is one of that book's most prominent constituents. That is to say, it's got an entire two pages devoted to it (as do all the other drinks in the book)—a gorgeous color spread and a recipe written in crayon. There's some debate about whether the primary ingredient should be gin or cognac, but I'm sure you could use either one and still make a damn fine beverage.

I've heard that the drink was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris by a fellow named Harry MacElhone. Rumor has it that ol' Harry (who would later come to own the New York Bar) created the drink specifically for returning WWI fighter pilots. It was so powerful, Harry said, that it felt like being on the receiving end of a French 75-millimeter howitzer. 

On that note, here's the recipe (as found in Vintage Cocktails): 

• 1.5 ounces V.S.O.P. cognac
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 3/4 ounce lemon juice
• champagne

Shake the cognac, simple syrup and lemon juice together and strain into a flute. Fill the flute the rest of the way with champagne.

Just so you know, "V.S.O.P." stands for something. "V" is "very"; "S" is "special"; and "O.P." means "order of the prince." At least that's what this bartender has heard. A cognac may be "O.P." or "V.S." or just plain "S," but if it's "V.S.O.P.", then it's special stuff. Fit for a king (or a mighty good drink)!

And the French 75 is mighty good, I must say. I've had more powerful cocktails, but boy, this thing must have been a killer in 1915. I didn't think brandy and champagne would mix well, but they do.

Even so, brandy does go harmoniously with sugar and lemon juice. (Without the champagne, the French 75 is basically a Between the Sheets cocktail.) The addition of something sweet, tart, and fizzy like champagne does wonders for this libation's flavor and texture. We're given something to offset the sourness of the citrus and the dark spice of the brandy, and a lovely textural counterpoint in the carbonation. We've already seen that brandy mixes well with fizzy things (I think I reviewed a brandy and soda at one point, didn't I?). The French 75 bears that impression out. Even though this drink has four ingredients and therefore violates Dad's Golden Rule, it's still worth your while. So drink up!Wait, what's that?

You came here for something sultry, and by God you're not leaving without it?

Oh, all right. Here:

Now shut up and drink, you lecher.