Grapefruit French 75

This Grapefruit French 75 recipe is a pink version of the classic cocktail in honor of Galentine’s Day. It’s a bright, refreshing, and semi-sweet delight that bubbles up with positivity.  

Cheers to all the women in your life who have supported, cared, laughed, cried, and loved with you.

What is a French 75?

The French 75 is a cocktail bar and brunch favorite. If given the choice between a mimosa or a French 75 at brunch, I’ll always choose the French 75.

It contains gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup that is shaken with ice and then strained into a glass and topped with Champagne.

As a drink, it’s refreshing, effervescent, tasty, and not too sweet.

What is a Grapefruit French 75?

The drink I’m sharing with you today is simply a grapefruit version of the French 75. However, I’m adding more punch by making a simple syrup out of grapefruit juice rather than water.

I wanted the beautiful pink color of grapefruits to be clear and present in the drink.

What is Galentine’s Day?

Galentine’s Day was first introduced by Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation, Season 2, Episode 16. The episode aired on February 11, 2010, and since then, this fictional day has become a reality.

Galentine’s Day isn’t about being single. It’s about celebrating the friendships you have with other women who help uplift you.

And for me, I try to celebrate it whenever I can, not just on February 13^th. So even though I’m publishing this for Galentine’s Day, this is a drink I would make my friends at any time.

Grapefruit French 75 Ingredients

Concentrated Grapefruit Simple Syrup Ingredients

• 2 cups grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 cup sugar

Grapefruit French 75 Ingredients

• 2 ounces gin
• 1-ounce concentrated grapefruit simple syrup
• 1-ounce fresh grapefruit juice
• 1 cup (or two handfuls) ice
• 3 to 4 ounces sparkling wine to top
• 1 grapefruit peel, for aroma and garnish

Grapefruit French 75 Equipment

• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• 8-ounce coupe glass
• Vegetable peeler

Concentrated Grapefruit Simple Syrup Instructions

The first step is to make the concentrated grapefruit simple syrup. Reducing the grapefruit will deepen the color and flavor of the final syrup.

It will also make this simple syrup slightly more viscous than regular simple syrup.

Pour the grapefruit juice into a small saucepan. Over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook until reduced to 1 cup.

Once the grapefruit juice has been reduced, add the sugar. Stir and cook until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Take off the heat and allow to cool completely. Store in a mason jar or other airtight container in the fridge.

Grapefruit French 75 Instructions

One of the great things about this Grapefruit French 75 is that it is a classic and easy cocktail to make. It should be on your list of drinks to make for easy entertaining.

To make a Grapefruit French 75, add two handfuls of ice into a cocktail shaker. Add the gin, grapefruit simple syrup, and grapefruit juice.

Shake vigorously until the shaker is sweating and cold to the touch.

Pour through a cocktail strainer over a coupe glass.

Top with the sparkling wine of your choice (about 3 to 4 ounces).

Twist the grapefruit peel over the surface of the drink, moving around the glass to make sure the aroma settles over the entire surface for maximum advantage.

Enjoy while cold. Cheers!

Tips and Tricks

Below are some further tips and tricks to make sure you make the best Grapefruit French 75 ever!

How can you tell if a grapefruit is ripe?

It’s important to get a ripe grapefruit for this cocktail. First, look at the color. Ripe pink grapefruit will have a consistent pink color all the way around.

A ripe grapefruit won’t be perfectly round, which indicates it was picked too early. Instead, the side where the stem was and the opposite side should be slightly flat, making the grapefruit more oval-shaped than circular.

Pick up a promising-looking grapefruit and see if it feels heavier than it looks. This is a good indication of a ripe and juicy grapefruit.

Squeeze the grapefruit lightly and see if the skin bounces back to its original position. If it does, then it is ripe.

What type of gin should I use for a Grapefruit French 75?

The best advice is to use a gin you know you enjoy! That makes it more likely you will love the cocktail. However, if you are in an exploratory mood, try a different gin based on its flavor profile.

The process of making gin reminds me of baking. Each distillery has a different collection of aromatics that they will use. 

You can read more about gin here, but essentially the list of herbs, spices, and botanicals that can be used in gin is endless.

What do you think would go with grapefruit best? Maybe the sage and rosemary forwardness of St. George Spirits Terroir Gin would interest you. Or perhaps the hint of orange, cumin, and pink peppercorn from Sipsong Spirits Indira Gin would bring some spice to the cocktail.

This is the fun part of mixology, so do some thinking and have fun with it.

What sparkling wine should I use?

A classic French 75 calls for Champagne, which is a sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France.

The world of sparkling wines is confusing and it’s one of the areas in the beverage industry I’m trying to learn more about.

I’ve been exploring the site Wine Folly and reading their books, The Essential Guide to Wine and the Magnum Edition Master Guide to learn more.

In my limited experience, I’ve enjoyed Prosecco, Cava, and Brut Champagne the best with French 75s and other mixed cocktails.

Below are some recommendations for choosing a sparkling wine.

Prosecco

Prosecco hails from Italy and is very light-bodied. When I use it in a French 75, I like how it lets the gin and lemon flavors shine through. Dominant tasting notes include green apple, honeydew, pear, lager, and cream.

Cava

I tried Cava recently on New Year’s and enjoyed it a lot. Like Prosecco, it was extremely light-bodied and refreshing.

I tasted lemon zest, tart green apple, pear, white cherry, starfruit, coconut, chamomile, seashell, and lager. In my notes, I said “would make a great French 75.”

Jaume Serra Cristalino | Cava Brut | Non-Vintage |Traditional Method | Penedés Catalonia, Spain

Champagne

Sparkling wines have levels of sweetness that are indicated on the bottles. With Champagne, I’ve found I like ones in the “bone dry” category of sweetness.

This includes Brut Nature, Extra Brut, and Brut. The dryness of the wine allows for other flavors in the cocktail to be more dominant.

Sparkling Rosé

This time around, I wanted to choose a sparkling wine that had a rosé or pink hue.

I used:

De Bussy | Valse Romantique Rosé (created from Cabernet Franc grapes) | Non-Vintage | Méthode Traditionnelle | Saumur, Middle Loire, France

On the nose, I smelled cherry, strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb, pink peppercorn, yeasty sourdough bread, and sea breeze.

Strawberry, raspberry, and white nectarine were the primary flavors I tasted. There was a slight sweetness on the tip of the tongue that tasted caramelized. The finish is dry at the back of the tongue and then travels to the side of the mouth.

I would buy this sparkling rosé again and enjoy drinking it on its own. It paired well with the grapefruit syrup and juice.

Other sparkling rosé options include:

Baga is a grape from Portugal that makes a complex sparkling rosé.

Crémant is a large group of sparkling wines from France. Rosé styles include Crémant d’Alsace and Crémant de Bordeaux. Tasting notes include lemon, white peach, white cherry, almond, and toast.

Franciacorta is a region in Lombardy, Italy. It comes in different styles, rosé being one of them. Tasting notes include lemon, peach, white cherry, almond, and toast.

Lambrusco di Sorbara is a grape that makes delicate floral wines in pale pink hues. Tasting notes include orange blossom, mandarin orange, cherry, violet, and watermelon. I wanted to use this but could only find still wine, not sparkling.

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is a light-bodied red popular around the world, but especially here in California and Oregon.

When you see a sparkling rosé, there’s a great chance the main grape (or the only one) is Pinot Noir.

How to open a champagne bottle safely and easily

Opening a champagne bottle is surprisingly safe and easy.

First, you need to remove the foil top. Once the foil is removed, you will see a cork wrapped in a wire cage. At the bottom of the cage is a twisted tab that needs to be turned to be untwisted.

There’s no need to remove the cage and it’s safer if you keep it on. I like to cover the cork and cage with a wash rag or towel so that when I grip it firmly, the metal cage doesn’t bite into my hand.

When opening champagne, hold the bottle at a 45-degree angle. This prevents bubbling over.

With your other hand, hold the bottom of the bottle and rotate it slowly. You will feel the cork begin to push into your hand with some force but exert pressure on it to slow down the process.

As you slowly release the cork, you will hear the pressure release. Once the cork has been removed, keep the bottle at a 45-degree angle until all the excess pressure has escaped.

What kind of glass should I use for a Grapefruit French 75?

A flute glass is technically the best kind of glassware for sparkling drinks. Its narrow structure slows down the release of bubbles.

However, I can’t resist coupe glasses. They’re so pretty. Also, this is a large drink with a ratio of still and sparkling liquids of equal amounts, so an 8-ounce coupe glass was the best option.

If you only have smaller coupe glasses or flutes, you can split the drink so that it serves 2 instead of 1. Just remember to keep the amount of sparkling wine equal to the gin, simple syrup, and juice mix.

Grapefruit French 75 Food Pairing

If you are looking to throw a brunch or party with your friends, here are some food pairing ideas. I would do a cheese board with a little bit of everything.

• Shellfish (lobster, crab, shrimp)
• Mollusk (clam, oyster, scallop)
• Cured meats
• Antipasto
• Spicy Asian food
• Fried food
• Most cheeses
  • Salty crumbly cheese
  • Sour cheese and cream
  • Nutty hard cheese
  • Dry salty umami cheese
• Salty appetizers

To up the presentation, arrange everything on a hand-crafted olive wood cutting board.

Forest Decor was nice enough to send me an olive wood board. As a food photographer and blogger, I’m always looking for beautiful wood boards.

I’ve never used olive wood before, and I like how hard and dense it is. It makes a very good cutting board and because it is so beautiful, it also makes an excellent cheese board.

I hope you enjoy this Grapefruit French 75 with some good food and good friends. Happy Galentine’s Day!