Gin & French
Dry, botanical, essential.
Equal parts gin and dry vermouth, stirred and served on the rocks with a lemon slice. A close cousin of the Martini, softer and more aromatic, made for before dinner.
- Aperitif
- Stirred
- Glass
- Rocks glass
- Method
- Stirred
- Strength
- Medium
- Time
- 2 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Ice
- Cubes
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Gin
60 ml
-
Dry vermouth
60 ml
Garnish
- Lemon slice
Proportions
How to make
- Chill an old fashioned glass.
- Pour the gin into the mixing glass.
- Add the dry vermouth.
- Stir with ice.
- Fill the glass with ice.
- Strain over the ice.
- Garnish with a lemon slice.
The story
Origins
LegendA story passed down, not confirmed by the sources.
The name comes from old bar language: Italian vermouth used to mean the sweet red style and French the dry, pale one, so 'French' simply meant dry vermouth, just as 'It' meant Italian in the Gin and It. Neither an inventor nor a date of birth is known for this name. The formula itself is old: as early as 1898 the book Cocktails... How To Make Them gave the Marguerite, with Plymouth gin and French vermouth in equal parts, regarded as an ancestor of the so-called fifty-fifty Martinis. Today it is usually served on the rocks with a lemon slice, sometimes lengthened with a dash of tonic.
Sources (5)
- Difford's Guide — Gin & French (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- Corris Craft Centre / Dyfi Distillery — Two Classic Gin Cocktails (Revived) (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- IBA — All cocktails, page 2 (Gin and French not listed) (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Wikipedia — List of IBA official cocktails (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Difford's Guide — Martini history (opens in a new tab) history
Taste profile
- Dry
- 4 out of 5
- Herbal
- 3 out of 5
- Strong
- 3 out of 5
