Cocktail Recipe - French 75
History
Who was the greatest bartender of all? Many have their favourites but Harry MacElhone would feature in most lists. Born in Dundee in 1890, Harry learned the ropes at the New York Bar in Paris before travelling to the best place to become a master of the trade - the States.
After stints in Connecticut and New York and fulfilling his national duty in the Air Force in World War 1, Harry took up a position at Ciro’s Club in London. Following in the tradition started by the father of modern bartending Jerry Thomas (1830-1885), Harry had his first bartending book published in 1921, Harry of Ciro’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails.
After moving to France to launch Ciro’s in the French seaside resort Deauville, he finally bought his first bar in 1923 - the very place he had started, now renamed Harry’s New York Bar. The history of cocktails, and alcohol generally, is a tapestry of competing origin stories and contradictory claims. MacElhone is credited with creating quite a few that are still with us - the Bloody Mary, unlikely an invention of Harry, but may have originated at the New York Bar during someone’s ownership; the Sidecar, whose first literary appearance was in Harry’s ABC book alongside the 75, which was widely credited to Harry. The name was derived from the French 75mm world war one field gun due to its powerful kick.
Over the years, as many cocktails do, the recipe evolved from Harry’s concoction (gin, calvados, grenadine and absinthe) into its modern form and name by the late 20s.
Below is my recipe, it differs from some others in terms of ratios, but the main difference is that I prefer it served in a martini glass or a champagne coupe rather than a flute. This is down to it being easier to chill the glass as well as plain old personal preference.
Ingredients
25ml London Dry Gin
12.5ml fresh Lemon Juice
12.5ml sugar syrup
Instructions
Fill a martini glass with crushed ice to cool it
Add some ice cubes to a cocktail shaker
Pour the gin, lemon juice, and sugar syrup into the shake
Shake mix vigourously
Empty the crushed ice from the glass
Strain mix into glass
Add Champagne to fill (approx 50 ml if in doubt)
Add garnish
Raise a glass to Harry.
Harry MacElhone