The Bon Vivant’s Companion

Finished cocktail with mixers

In 1919 an American officer stationed in England concocted the French 75 and named it after a 75mm howitzer gun.  Quaint.  The cocktail wasn’t made ring-a-ding  famous until it appeared at the Stork Club in the 1930’s.   And I must say — looks awfully good served in their champagne coupes (pictured left).

The French 75 is a gin-based drink topped off with champagne, and while there are many versions of this cocktail (apologies to the Stork Club) my favorite is based on the one found in The Art of the Bar:

French 75
1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 fresh lemon juice
Top off with champagne
Garnish with maraschino cherries & lemon twist

Cocktail Notes:
I recommend using Hendrick’s Gin. It’s a floral tasting gin with hints of cucumber, and doesn’t have the tinny, juniper berry, finish common in lesser gins.  Hendrick’s blends easily into classic cocktails without overpowering them.

Shaken or Stirred?
A decision to make before adding champagne, which is carbonated and will do bad things to the pressure inside your Boston shaker….

Shaken:
When you shake a drink a couple of things happen:
*ingredients become thoroughly mixed
*cocktail gets very cold
*ice melts rapidly diluting the drink (it’s little less boozy tasting)

Stirred:
Stirring has a slightly different effect:
*chills drink  (not as cold as shaken)
*blends without diluting, spirits shine through
*creates a nice foamy texture

When combining flavored mixers and citrus to a cocktail I lean toward shaking, but experiment and see what you like best.

Slight Variations:
These are mine, and unofficial, but give the drink a little blush color and another hint of flavor.

In addition to the recipe’s simple syrup you can add:
*a touch of pomegranate simple syrup
or
*a little of the marachino cherry juice

I had a cocktail called the Hemingway at The Edison in downtown LA.  Loved it, and began a quest to find just the right types of absinthe and champagne to recreate the drink at home.

(And to impress my friends with how swanky and sophisticated I am.  Which, by the way, takes smoke, mirrors, and research.)

I quickly found out that this cocktail is traditionally called Death in the Afternoon made famous by Hemingway (hence the artistic license at the Edison). “Death in the Afternoon” is taken directly from the title of Hemingway’s non-fiction book about Spanish bullfighting, and according to Harold McGee of The New York Times, a cocktail Papa contributed to a collection of celebrity recipes in 1935.

Hemingway’s instructions:

“Pour one jigger absinthe into a champagne glass.  Add iced champagne until it obtains the proper opalescent milkiness.  Drink 3 to 5 of these slowly.”

While jackassedly funny — as directions go — not so good.  Neither was the resulting cocktail.  Even though Death is a simple mixture of champagne and absinthe, the trick (as always), is in the balance.

So I took Hemingway’s recipe and added some notes.  (Thus editing Hemingway’s original work which is, at best, unchartable hubris)…

Death in the Afternoon
1 ounce absinthe.
1 sugar cube
Top with champagne.

*Drop the sugar cube into the bottom of a champagne saucer (or martini glass), pour 1 oz absinthe slowly over sugar, add ice cold champagne to taste.

Cocktail Notes:
*Moet Chandon was my hands-down favorite champagne in this cocktail,  but unless you’re making it for a party, buy Moet in small bottles.  A 187 ml bottle easily makes two drinks.  You get a high quality champagne without worrying about the bottle going unused — or drinking your face off.

* Unless you adore black licorice, I recommend Bohemian style absinthe for mixed cocktails.  Bohemian absinthe has very little anise (licorice) flavor and, even though it typically comes from the Czech Republic, I found a French brand called Le Tourment Vert (pictured below) that exhibited bohemian qualities. It has a lower alcohol content than most other absinthes (50% compared to 53% or more), and a slight sweetness that mixes beautifully with champagne.  (Think of it as a kinder gentler absinthe that plays well with others.)

*Stick the absinthe in the freezer before making this cocktail.  Room temperature absinthe will warm up, and flatten, the champagne.  Not fun.  Keep it cold and you’ll get a cocktail that is bubbly and crisp.  Cold ingredients also give the cocktail the “opalescent milkiness” Hemingway speaks of.

Drinking 3 to 5 of them is totally up to you….