If you need to increase the size of your artillery shells, may we recommend a French 95. The cousin of the French 75, this cocktail swaps for gin for bourbon. This change adds caramelized sugars and spices to drive depth.
French 95
The French 95 is similarly refreshing to it’s gin based cousin, but with something a little extra. While the gin provides and herbal foil for the lemon to work against, the bourbon instead gives this drink a warmth. It comes through in touches of cherry and brown sugar that are not normally present in dry white wines. That warmth gives it an inviting character that’s more relaxing. The balance is well structure with sweet and bright, and it’s a thoroughly sessionable cocktail.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
A French 95 could be made in either a flute of coupe, depending on your glassware and preference. We’ve chosen to mix it up for aesthetics, but you should choose what works best for you. We actually prefer a flute, simply for the ability to drink it easily.
- Bourbon – You can use any standard bourbon here you like. We chose Buffalo Trace for ours, but Wild Turkey 101, Elijah Craig Small Batch, or any other would do.
- Lemon Juice – For best results, use fresh squeezed.
- Simple Syrup – The standard 1:1 water to sugar simple is recommended here.
- Sparkling Wine – You don’t need to break the bank to make a French 95. Should you choose to use something expensive (like real Champagne with will run $45 – $60), it will be correspondingly good, but the returns aren’t likely to be 4 to 5 times better than using a $10 to $15 bottle of sparkling wine. We recommend prosecco or cava here, and used Kirkland’s Prosecco for ours.