French 125 (French '75' with cognac)
4.5 113 ratings
Ingredients
How to make
Serve in a flute glass
Prepare
- 1 Select and pre-chill a FLUTE GLASS.
- 2 Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
Method
- 3 STIR powdered sugar with lemon juice in base of shaker until sugar dissolves.
- 4 Add brandy and SHAKE with ice.
- 5 FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
- 6 TOP with sparkling wine and briefly stir. (Or pour half the sparling wine into the glass first to help reduce foaming and eliminate need to stir.)
Garnish
- 7 EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.
Flavour profile
History
Brandy creates a heavier cocktail than a gin-based French 75, yet this cocktail remains enlivening, refreshing and quaffable. Powdered sugar adds an attractive sherbet note. The cocktail also works well with sugar syrup – use ¼oz/7.5ml sugar syrup in place of the 1½ spoons of powdered sugar.
A brandy-based variation of the French 75, which was named after the French 75mm field gun utilized by the French army during the First World War. This cognac version is appropriately named after another gun, the tank-mounted Soviet 2A46 (also designated D-81T) 125mm/L48 smoothbore cannon. The initial recipe for a French 75 made with cognac instead of gin is listed as French 125 in Jones' Complete Barguide by Stanley M. Jones, published in 1977. Jones' French 125 is served long, over ice in a Collins glass. The flute presentation shown here is more contemporary but has become the standard serving method. Arnaud's French 75 Bar in New Orleans' French Quarter opts to prepare its namesake cocktail with cognac rather than gin, "in honour of the cocktail's French origins." French 75 history and recipe variations