If you are partial to French 75 cocktails then I applaud you for being a person of indisputable good taste and some serious style. Do you wear tailoring? I cannot imagine drinking a French 75 in a hoodie and sweat pants. A French 75 cocktail is an elegant sharp drink and starts off the evening in a very precise and deliberate way. Here are some fairly precise non-alcoholic versions of a French 75 where a sharp person such as yourself is deliberately taking care of themselves.
For all of these, I recommend using a non-alcoholic gin. There’s nothing else that quite matches the botanical flavours such as juniper (unless you were going to make the botanical drink yourself from scratch).
Version 1 – as close as one can get to the original? 7 out of 10 rating.
Ingredients:
50 ml non alcoholic gin. Vodka Guy recommends Tanqueray over Seedlip.
Non alcoholic sparkling wine. It is important to choose a good sparkling wine. I tried McGuigan Zero sparkling for this one and I must admit it was uninteresting in this drink.
One teaspoon white sugar.
One tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Method: Dissolve the sugar in the gin and lemon juice by shaking together in a clean jam jar with lid. Pour contents of jar into champagne flute with a couple of ice cubes. Top up with sparkling wine.
Version 2 – surprisingly good. 8.5 out of 10.
Ingredients:
50 ml non alcoholic gin.
Sparkling white grape juice. Try Schloer.
One tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Method: Add gin and lemon juice to champagne flute with a couple of ice cubes. Top up with sparkling grape juice.
Version 3 – if you are very short on time and energy. 6 out of 10 for a relatively lazy but refreshing drink.
Ingredients:
50 ml non alcoholic gin.
Decent sparkling lemonade. Try Belvoir or Fever Tree.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste.
Method: Add gin to champagne flute with a couple of ice cubes. Tope up with sparkling lemonade. If you would prefer a little extra sharpness, add a squeeze of lemon juice.
