Cranberry French 75

Name: Cranberry French 75
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2 cups fresh cranberries; 1 cup water; 1 cup white sugar; 2 cinnamon sticks; 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest; ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (preferably freshly grated); ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger; Pinch of ground cloves; 1 ½ ounces London dry gin; 1 ounce spiced cranberry simple syrup; ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice; Ice; 2-3 ounces Champagne or sparkling white wine; Fresh rosemary sprig (for garnish, optional)

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Let’s toast to the holiday season with this cheery cranberry French 75! Prepared with a spiced cranberry simple syrup and squeeze of fresh lemon juice, this recipe adds a festive twist on a classic Champagne cocktail that's perfect for any special occasion. The holiday season is about to get extra fun with this oh-so-smooth, elegant cranberry Champagne cocktail -- now let's start mixing your new favorite holiday signature drink.

A cranberry French 75 on a silver platter with rosemary and cranberries around it with a bottle of Champagne in the background.

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Recipe FAQs
Expert Tips
Perfect Pairing
Looking for More Holiday Cocktails?
📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Champagne makes for a special sipper. When you hear that sound of a Champagne cork pop, you know it's the holidays, and the perfect way to elevate any holiday event is with a bubbly Champagne cocktail.

Full of cranberry flavor. 'Tis the season for all things cranberry! Like my cranberry-spice Christmas mimosa, sparkling cranberry margarita and chai-cranberry bourbon smash, cranberries are the cocktail star of the holidays, and this recipe is the perfect way to make the most of the season. I'm a big believer in taking advantage of the season's freshest ingredients, and that's what we're doing here.

Great for serving a crowd. We simply add the ingredients to a pitcher with a bottle of Champagne, and we have enough to serve 12 people. Now that's easy entertaining.

Versatile enough to take you from the fall through New Year's. This cranberry French 75 works nicely for a pre-dinner Thanksgiving drink, Christmas brunch cocktail, or toasting New Year's Eve.

Related: For more Champagne cocktails, make sure you also try my rosé French 75, elderflower French 77 and French 76.

Ingredients

And those are all our cranberry French 75 ingredients! Now for a couple notes.

Champagne: While Champagne is traditional, you're also more than welcome to use a sparkling white wine, which is what's pictured. True Champagne is only made in the Champagne region in France, and it does tend to be a bit pricier. These days, you can get some delicious sparkling white wines that are great for cocktails at a variety of price points. Honestly, I prefer to save the real Champagne to drink unadorned.

Cranberry simple syrup: For this, I recommend using my spiced cranberry simple syrup, which calls for water, cranberries, sugar, orange zest, cinnamon sticks, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and ground cloves. Keep in mind, you can also use this syrup for my delicious cranberry old fashioned and cranberry bourbon sour.

Gin: While this cocktail may have its French roots, I recommend a London-style dry gin. Bombay Sapphire and Beefeater are widely available, classic options.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Let’s start by making our spiced cranberry simple syrup. For this, we add the ingredients to a small saucepan, boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes (photos 1-3). After simmering, we let the syrup steep and then strain (photo 4).

A collage showing the process of making the spiced cranberry simple syrup.

Step 2: Now we add the cranberry simple syrup, gin, lemon juice and ice to a cocktail shaker (photo 5).

Adding the ingredients to a cocktail shaker before mixing.

Step 3: We put on the top and give it a good shake (photo 6). About 15-30 seconds works well.

Shaking the ingredients in a cocktail shaker to chill.

Step 4: For our last step, we strain the chilled cranberry mixture into a flute (photo 7) and top with Champagne (photo 8).

A collage showing the process of straining the cocktail shaker and pouring in the Champagne.

Now toast to the holidays, sip and enjoy!

Bonus: If you love this cranberry cocktail, be sure to also try my cranberry Moscow mule and cranberry bourbon smash.

A close-up of the cranberry French 75 with rosemary and cranberries around it.

Recipe FAQs

What's the best Champagne for a French 75?

A brut Champagne is traditional for a French 75. This is a crisp, drier style of Champagne that balances the sweet cranberry syrup. A sweeter Champagne may be a bit too cloying.

Can you make a French 75 in a pitcher ahead of time?

For easy entertaining, you can mix together the gin, simple syrup and lemon juice in a pitcher for up to 24 hours. However, don't pour in the Champagne until right before serving. You'll lose the fizzy bubbles if you pour the Champagne too far ahead of time. I included the proportions for a pitcher using a full bottle of wine in the notes section of the recipe card.

What's the best glassware for a French 75?

These days, a French 75 is most often served in a Champagne flute. The shape of the flute creates less surface area to keep those bubbles nice and fizzy. In less modern times, this drink was actually served in an ice-filled Collins glass, but I just love the elegant presentation of the flute and the way it keeps this cocktail extra bubbly.

Expert Tips

Once you make the cranberry simple syrup, it should last several weeks as long as you store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
You can substitute frozen cranberries for fresh. There's no need to thaw -- just add to the saucepan as you would with fresh cranberries.
The standard quantity of gin for a French 75 is 1 ½ ounces, but if you prefer less of a kick, use 1 ounce.
For the best flavor, use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice isn't nearly as bright.
Not a fan of gin? You can substitute vodka instead. While it won’t technically be a traditional French 75, it will be your own spin that better suits your tastes.

Perfect Pairing

As a wonderful holiday party cocktail, you can't go wrong serving this cranberry French 75 with my pretzel bites stuffed with cranberry and Brie. Or maybe you'd like to enjoy this drink over dinner -- my Christmas roast duck is perfect. A Champagne cocktail also makes a lovely brunch sipper, so you'll love the cranberry-spice flavor with my gingerbread waffles.

When you need an elegant holiday cocktail, I hope you try this sparkling cranberry French 75. Every bubbly sip is sure to make you feel cheery and festive.

Cheers!

Looking down on a cranberry French 75 with twinkling lights behind it.

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