“The Gin Gin 75”: champagne cocktail with gin and ginger

The herbaceous notes of gin, the spicy earthy kick of ginger, and the bright fizz of Brut Champagne make this a surprisingly smooth, well-balanced, and sublimely dangerous cocktail.

See this pretty picture, everything is calm and happy, the pretty flowers, the muted hues, the dancing bubbles. Have one of these delicious cocktails and the work week disappears, troubles pop like the effervescent bubbles in your drink. There is laughter and joy. But beware, the French 75 was named for the Champagne and the World War One quick-firing artillery gun, its got kick.

I first discovered the French 75 in London. Imagine now the lights spinning and the timey wimey flashback machine propelling us to a crowded bar with a ridiculously high ceiling, an ornate wooden bar, and a drink list that ,to a nineteen year old girl used to California Coolers and Hamm’s tallboys, seemed oh so fancy and foreign. We were a long way away from home and from the lost generation of Fitzgerald and Hemingway- no war, no guns, no novels being written. We had nothing to forget, only things to celebrate, and just enough money to have one fancy drink before wandering the brightly lit streets of central London. I chose the French 75 and it must have been special because so much of that trip is lost but I remember that moment, the red hue of the lights, where I stood near the end of the bar, the faces of my friends (and a few strangers). Yes I remember.

Cheers.

“The Gin Gin 75”: champagne cocktail with gin and ginger

Makes one dangerous sized drink or two slightly less risky sized ones.

ingredients

• 2 ounces of gin
• ½ ounce ginger simple syrup
• Champagne or dry sparkling white wine to top (about 5 ounces)
• Either a Collins glass or two champagne flutes

instructions

1. To make the ginger simple syrup combine 2 cups of water with one cup sugar and about 4 ounces of finely chopped fresh ginger in a nonreactive saucepan. Heat over medium high until just boiling and then turn down to a simmer and allow to cook, covered, for another 30 minutes to an hour. Allow to cool for ten minutes or so and then strain (I used my tea ball) into the receptacle of your choice. Will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.
2. Combine gin and ginger simple syrup. I keep my gin in the freezer and the simple syrup was refrigerated so I simply combine the two in the bottom of my champagne flute. If yours are warm you might want to shake the gin and simple syrup with ice to chill. Pour into appropriate glassware and top with bubbly.

"The Gin Gin 75": champagne cocktail with gin and ginger

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Ingredients

  

• 2 ounces of gin
• ½ ounce ginger simple syrup
• Champagne or dry sparkling white wine to top about 5 ounces
• Either a Collins glass or two champagne flutes

Instructions

 

• To make the ginger simple syrup combine 2 cups of water with one cup sugar and about 4 ounces of finely chopped fresh ginger in a nonreactive saucepan. Heat over medium high until just boiling and then turn down to a simmer and allow to cook, covered, for another 30 minutes to an hour. Allow to cool for ten minutes or so and then strain (I used my tea ball) into the receptacle of your choice. Will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.
• Combine gin and ginger simple syrup. I keep my gin in the freezer and the simple syrup was refrigerated so I simply combine the two in the bottom of my champagne flute. If yours are warm you might want to shake the gin and simple syrup with ice to chill. Pour into appropriate glassware and top with bubbly.

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