Famous French Cocktails

France is known worldwide for its cuisine and excellent French wines, but its delights go beyond these two categories. Classic French cocktails, invented by cocktail-creating geniuses, are perfectly balanced and pleasing.

The majority of the recipes for these famous French cocktails are super simple, and only a handful of ingredients go into these classic drinks.

Part of a long list of French drinks, these cocktails are ideal for sipping during social meetings, sitting somewhere while chatting, and enjoying other people’s company. To be ready to participate in this French social experience at home or on your next French trip, here is a list of the most famous French cocktails you can order.

• Bloody Mary
• Kir
• Miomsa
• Between the Sheets
• Monaco
• Blue Lagoon
• Picon Bière
• Embuscade
• Le French 75
• Serendipity
• Ti-Punch

Best French Cocktails You Need to Try

Read on this list of famous French cocktails and get ready to please your palate!

Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary is one of the most famous drinks out there, thanks to its peculiar name, beautiful red color, and distinctive taste.

It was the French bartender, Fernand Petitot, who claimed its invention in 1921. He was working at the New York Bar in Paris at the time, a frequent Paris hangout for Hemingway and other American migrants. This bar later became Harry’s New York Bar (5 Rue Daunou) and still keeps pouring its signature cocktail to its guests.

Some say the drink’s name is a reference to the infamous Queen of England, nicknamed “Bloody Mary” due to her harsh policy of repression against English Protestants. Others say that the name of this drink came from Ernest Hemingway, who once asked for a cocktail that would not make his breath smell like alcohol so his wife, Mary, wouldn’t be angry at him once home.

Despite different claims on the origin of the name, everybody agrees on the ingredients. Inside a Bloody Mary, you will find vodka, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, celery seed, citrus juices, salt, pepper, and brown sugar (or molasses), which creates a cocktail with a savory taste that is said to cure a hangover!

Kir

Kir is an apéritif traditional to Burgundy cuisine. It is made with crème de cassis and Burgundy white wine (Aligoté). Its name comes from the French Politician Félix Kir, who was mayor of Dijon from 1945 to 1968.

One of the most famous French cocktails, a kir is very easy to prepare: 1/ 5 Dijon crème de cassis at 20 °C, lengthened by 4 /5 of Burgundy wine aligoté.

Like many popular French cocktails, there are many variants around the kir, with the Kir Royal being the most popular. The kir royal has Champagne wine instead of Aligoté wine.

Mimosa

The iconic brunch drink, the Mimosa, is a French cocktail enjoyed virtually everywhere.

Part of its fame is its simplicity: Mimosa is made with only two ingredients: good-quality Champagne (or other sparkling wine) and orange juice in equal parts. These two ingredients mixed are a match made in heaven and create a fresh and bubbly drink that pairs perfectly with both savory and sweet dishes, which is why it is usually drunk at brunches.

Mimosa is a fabulous orange color, and it is often served in a tall champagne flute.

As for who had the brilliant idea to invent this cocktail, some credit the bartender and cocktail writer Frank Meier, who worked at the Hotel Ritz in Paris in the 1900s.

Between the Sheets

Another fantastic cocktail born inside the creative Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, Between the Sheets, isn’t for the weak-headed. There is a version of the story of this cocktail’s invention that says it was first drunk by prostitutes as an aperitif in French brothels, which will explain its name, after all.

Between the Sheets contains 1 part of lemon juice and equal parts of cognac, white rum, and Cointreau or Triple Sec. The ingredients are shaken with ice, poured into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnished with an orange twist before being served.

Monaco

A classic cocktail, the Monaco is the most popular French beer cocktail you will find. The original recipe is made with equal parts of Grenadine syrup, lemon soda, and blond beer. The Monaco taste is sweet and refreshing, and is served chilled in a beer glass.

This cocktail isn’t particularly alcoholic, which is why it is widely consumed.

The creation of this cocktail is attributed to George Booth, who was inspired by another cocktail, the Snakebite, made from cider and beer. The name “Monaco” comes instead from the red-and-white colors of the Monegasque flag.

Blue Lagoon

A signature summer cocktail, Blue Lagoon is fun and refreshing. Stories want this drink created by Andy MacElhone, the son of famed bartender Harry MacElhone, who worked at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris in the early 1970s.

As the name suggests, Blue Lagoon has a wonderful cobalt-blue color given by one of its main ingredients, blue curaçao, a Caribbean liqueur made with dried peel of the Laraha citrus fruit and blue food coloring. The other ingredients in this popular cocktail are vodka and lemonade, which add sweet and zesty notes. The proportions of the ingredients to make the cocktail are: 1 part of vodka, 1 part of blue curaçao, and 4 parts of lemonade.

Blue Lagoon is usually served in a highball glass filled with ice and garnished with an orange or lemon slice.

Picon Bière

Picon Bière is not a cocktail in itself, as it is a liqueur made of orange zest, gentian roots, and cinchona. However, it is served mixed with blond beer to create a refreshing beverage with a distinctive fruity aroma.

This flavored bitter is usually enjoyed as an aperitif, and it’s mostly consumed in the East and North of France.

The liqueur was invented by Gaétan Picon, a scholar who had an apprenticeship at the Marseille distilleries, while he was in Algeria serving in the French Army. When Picon returned to France in 1872, he opened the first factory to produce the liqueur in Marseille, which still operates today.

Embuscade

The Embuscade is a popular cocktail created among students in Caen, Normandy.

As it happens with famous things, several bars in Caen self-assign its paternity. The most accredited theory is that the Embuscade was created in Montmartre Bar. Le 23 and the Vertigo are two other bars claiming they invented this cocktail. Another element that is unclear in the Embuscade story is where its name comes from, with some linking it with Alfred Hitchcock’s work “The Devil in Ambush.”

Whatever the stories tell, the ingredients of this cocktail are written in stone, as it is always made with 2 parts of Calvados, 3 parts of white wine, 5 parts of blond beer, and a drizzle of citron syrup.

Le French 75

Among the most classic French cocktails you can try, Le French 75 is made with 1 and 1/2 parts of gin, 1 part of lemon juice, 1/2 part of sugar syrup, and Champagne to top.

Few ingredients but perfectly balanced give life to this cocktail created in the 1920s by the crafty hands of Harry McElhone, owner of the famous Harry’s New York Bar in Paris.

The cocktail seems named after the 75mm gun used during World War 1 by the French military, and it rose to fame when American soldiers brought the recipe back to the United States after the war.

Le French 75 is served icy-cold into a sugar-rimmed flute or martini glass.

Serendipity

A light French cocktail perfect for a fall afternoon or a laid-back evening in good company, Serendipity has indeed the right name for it!

This delightful cocktail was created by Colin Peter Field, head bartender at the Hemingway Bar inside the Ritz Hotel.

Inside a Serendipity cocktail are 1 part of Calvados (apple brandy from Normandy), 2 parts of apple juice, sugar, fresh mint leaves, and 8 parts of Champagne wine, which need to be added as the last ingredient in the glass. As it is for the best drinks, a few ingredients perfectly combined are the trick for this spectacular cocktail!

Ti-Punch

Ti Punch is a rum-based cocktail from the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.  This French cocktail literally means “small punch” and is often compared to Cuba’s Daiquiri or Brazil’s Caipirinha.

The Ti Punch is usually served as an apéritif. It is made with a special type of rum, Rhum Agricole, which is distilled from sugar cane juice rather than molasses, lime, and cane syrup.  The REAL Ti Punch is served without ice, and tradition in Martinique has it prepared “chacun prepare sa propre mort” – which translates as each prepares their own death – where the barman provides all the ingredients and the customer prepares it to their own taste. 

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