French 75

Harry MacElhone, Harry's New York Bar, Paris, 1915 (or shortly after). The drink was named for the Canon de 75 modèle 1897 — the French 75mm field gun celebrated for its rapid rate of fire and accuracy. MacElhone's recipe used gin, Calvados, grenadine, and lemon juice — the modern version evolved to the current gin or Cognac-lemon-Champagne formula. The cocktail appears in Louis Muckensturm's 1914 collection under similar names.

The French 75 is named for the French 75mm field artillery piece used in World War I — a gun renowned for its speed and devastating force, qualities that early drinkers found accurately described the cocktail's effect. Gin (or Cognac in the French original), lemon juice, simple syrup, and Champagne in a Champagne flute produces a drink that is simultaneously elegant and powerful, celebratory and tart. The French 75 is the most perfect Champagne cocktail: the gin's botanicals and the lemon's acidity provide structure that keeps the Champagne from being merely decorative. It is appropriate at every celebration from a bridal brunch to a birthday dinner, and it is technically demanding in the way all great simple things are.

FOOD PAIRING: The French 75's gin-lemon-Champagne elegance pairs with fine dining appetisers and seafood. Provenance 1000 pairings: oysters Rockefeller (the Champagne's mineral depth and the gin's botanicals lift the oyster's brine), gravlax with dill creme fraiche (gin botanicals echo the dill), smoked salmon canapés (the acidity cuts the fat), Champagne-poached lobster (spirit-in-glass mirrors spirit-in-dish), and chicken liver parfait with brioche.