A French 75 is made from Champagne quickened with gin and sweetened with lemon juice. The endlessly repeated legend tells us that the drink was invented by Harry MacElhone at his eponymous bar in Paris soon after the war. It seems odd that this sublimely ethereal cocktail should be named after the M1897 rapid-fire 75mm field gun used by the French in the First World War. Ever since, the French 75 origin story seems to be linked to a murderous artillery piece.
But, like many legends, this version of the French 75 origin story is emphatically not true. Yes, there was a drink called “75” that was served at Harry’s Bar. Yes, it was included in every edition of MacElhone’s seminal book, Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, throughout the 1920s. It was a cocktail, the book informs us, that “was very popular in France during the war, and named after the French light field gun.”
The problem is, the accompanying recipe is for an entirely different drink: a heavy-calibre concoction of grenadine, absinthe, gin and Calvados, with not a drop of lemon juice or Champagne to be seen. (MacElhone didn’t invent that 75 either; it’s believed he purloined it from Henry Tépé of Henry’s Bar, a rival Parisian establishment.)
What is the real French 75 origin story?
The French 75 origin story actually dates back to 1927, first appearing in a popular American cocktail book called Here’s How. The author, Judge Jr., loved the name and its military association so much he attached it to a drink. He later admitted was just a Tom Collins made with Champagne instead of club soda. It later became a hit at the famous Stork Club in New York, then at the Savoy hotel in London.
The drink itself, however, is much older than its moniker. Older, even, than a Collins: It was already a favourite in the mid-1800s. When Charles Dickens stayed at the Parker House hotel in Boston in 1867, he entertained the local literary circle known as “the Saturday Club” with a reading of A Christmas Carol and abundant “Tom gin and Champagne cups.”
A Victorian Champagne cup involved sugar dissolved in lemon juice and topped up with bubbly. If it was Dickens’ idea to add Old Tom sweetened gin, it is further proof of his genius.
Best French 75 recipes
Interested in making a French 75 yourself at home? Try our Cranberry French 75 or this Raspberry French 75 modelled after Vancouver’s NOX Bona Dea cocktail.
