Created in 1915 at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris by Harry MacElhone the French 75 is said to have gotten it’s name because they said the drink had as much kick as a 75-millimeter field artillery gun. After making one I can attest, it’s the most potent champagne mixed-drink I’ve had.
Harry’s New York Bar
Located at 5 rue Daunou (Sank Roo Doe Noo) in Paris this was a spot where a lot of American expats tied one on. That’s because Harry MacElhone was an artist and he used booze like Picasso did paint. Also, there was no prohibition in France during the 1920s.
You want history? F. Scott Fitzgerald got tanked there. So did Knute Rockne, Rita Hayworth, Bill Tilden, Coco Chanel, Jack Dempsey, Humphrey Bogart, and of course Ernest Hemingway. Also, in Ian Fleming’s short story From a View to Kill, James Bond lost his virginity and wallet from a woman he picked up there. He was 16. Also, James is not real. But Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was a real person and he had something to say about the French 75.
If you have a French 75 you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Moveable Feast
I went to Harry’s on my honeymoon. We were in Paris and I wanted to do a bit of a Hemingway bar crawl. It’s a cool spot, there are college pennants on the walls and I was happy to see Holy Cross and WPI up there but I was a little pissed when my alma mater, Worcester State was nowhere to be seen.
Aside from the pennants there’s some other memorabilia on the walls including a plaque with the Fitzgerald quote (above) and Primo Carnera’s boxing gloves.
There’s not a lot of food on the menu, most of the time the only thing you can get is a hot dog. And the drinks are expensive so you’re saving a few Euros (it was 16€ when I went) having this one at home. Here’s what you need.
Ingredients
- 2 oz gin
- 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
- Juice of 1/2 lemon (1 Tablespoon)
- Brut Champagne (we used Prosecco instead)
- Cracked Ice
Pour all the ingredients except the champagne into a flute. Top with champagne and serve.
This drink may look harmless because it’s in a champagne flute but then of course there’s the two ounces of gin that make this thing like a gin and tonic without the tonic. Just adding more alcohol for bubble effect. I liked it, it tastes good.
Other drinks concocted at Harry’s New York Bar: The Bloody Mary, the Sidecar, The White Lady, Le Boulevardier, the Scoff-Law and the Monkey Gland. Cheers.
