Lemony French 75 Cocktail Recipe

Are you looking to impress a date, please a partner, or leave a great impression on everyone at the dinner party but ... you're not much of a mixology master? No problem, recipe developer Erin Johnson of Probably in the Kitchen has you covered with this drink. Her lemony French 75 cocktail recipe is quick and easy — easy to the point that you really can't mess it up. Yet the drink it produces tastes complex and refined thanks to the elegant interplay of the champagne, spirits, and the lemon essence syrup. But don't worry if you don't have all those exact ingredients readily available. 

"If you don't have champagne on hand, or you want a more affordable option, feel free to substitute Prosecco or your favorite dry sparkling wine," Johnson says. Just don't swap out the gin for, say, tequila or Scotch, or your guests are going to be nonplussed instead of impressed.

You'll need six ingredients to make this great cocktail, assuming we're not counting the ice as an ingredient. All told, you'll need sugar, water, lemon juice, gin, champagne (or another sparkling white wine), and some lemon peel for garnish.

But for the record, you can leave the lemon out if needed or preferred. Johnson says, "If you don't want to make a lemon simple syrup, you can use a regular simple syrup as well."

Start by making the simple syrup. To do that, combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan and put it over a medium to high heat. Stir the liquid well and allow it to come to a boil. Once all the sugar has melted, remove the pan from the heat and set it aside. (And again, you can leave the lemon juice out if you want.)

In a cocktail shaker, add the gin, lemon juice, and an ounce of the lemon simple syrup. Then fill the cocktail shaker with ice, leaving a bit of room for motion, then close it up and shake that shaker vigorously.

Next, strain the drink into a champagne glass (or glass of your choice) and then top it up with champagne.

And that's it, your drink is done! Garnish the glass with lemon peel twist, then serve and enjoy it. This twist won't add much flavor, so it's a good idea for the optics even if you left lemon out because of flavor preferences, by the way. Likewise, it's not necessary for more than the visual if you'd prefer to just sip the thing as it is.

Also note that you'll have plenty of extra lemon simple syrup, and that's a good thing. "This simple syrup will last in the fridge for up to two weeks," Johnson says.