75 Cocktail in a coupe glass garnished with a star anise pod

75 Cocktail (1926 recipe)

Name: 75 Cocktail (1926 recipe)
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Calvados — 40 ml (1 1/3 oz); London dry gin — 20 ml (2/3 oz); Grenadine syrup — 5 ml (1/6 oz); Absinthe — 2 dashes

Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 33% ABV ∙

The 75 Cocktail is a shaken Calvados cocktail from a 1926 recipe, built with London dry gin, grenadine, and a dash of absinthe. Apple brandy warmth leads, gin adds a juniper spine, and a whisper of absinthe and grenadine sweetness lingers into an anise-tinged finish — a curious pre-dinner sipper.

Ingredients

Servings

Garnish

Star anise

Instructions for 1 serving

Pre-chill a glass
Shake all ingredients with ice: Calvados 40 mlLondon dry gin 20 mlGrenadine syrup 5 mlAbsinthe 2 dashes
Fine strain into the chilled glass
Garnish with a star anise

Tips

Shake with plenty of ice for a full 12-15 seconds since the Calvados-gin base needs vigorous dilution to soften its high 33% ABV.
Add the absinthe as two precise dashes directly into the shaker rather than rinsing the glass, keeping the anise note subtle against the calvados.
Measure the grenadine carefully at just 5 ml so it tints the drink pink without overpowering the apple brandy and gin.
Double strain into a chilled coupe to catch any ice shards, then float a whole star anise on top as garnish.

History

This "75" Cocktail is an early, Calvados-based ancestor of the French 75, credited to Scottish-born bartender Harry MacElhone. It appears under the title "75" Cocktail in the 1926 fourth edition of his book Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, built from Calvados, gin, grenadine, and absinthe. MacElhone had already recorded a "75" in the 1922 first edition of the same book, and that year Robert Vermeire also published a "75" recipe in his own book, Cocktails: How to Mix Them, crediting the drink to MacElhone, though Vermeire's version added lemon juice rather than absinthe. MacElhone described the drink as having been popular in France during the war, and named it for the French 75-millimeter light field gun used by the French army in World War I. The recipe and name later evolved further: in 1927 Judge Jr. published a version called French 75, made with gin, lemon juice, sugar, and champagne, and this form was reprinted in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930, which helped establish it as the standard recipe known today.