The food has been through enough. Pour something civilised.
Sinners Reunion is the final main book in Lauren Biel’s Slaycation series, which means five books, one last cross-country road trip, and the end of a series that has personally ruined several completely innocent grocery items for me.
A pineapple.
A turkey leg.
Rockmelon.
A champagne bottle.
An entire deep fryer.
At this point I think the food deserves compensation.
So for the Slaycation finale, I am doing something almost suspiciously respectable.
Champagne.
Well, sparkling wine. With gin. And lemon. Because apparently I am capable of restraint.
A classic French 75 is gin, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and dry sparkling wine. It is sharp, cold, fizzy and deceptively strong, while somehow looking like the sort of drink ordered by someone who definitely has their life together.
That is not why I am drinking it.
This one is going next to a plate of Slaughter Park Funnel Cake, because champagne and fairground food feels exactly right for the last stop on this particular road trip.
Fancy glass. Deep-fried snack. Questionable fictional decisions.
Balance.
There is a full alcohol-free version below too.
A note on the read: Sinners Reunion is dark romance with substantial content warnings. These include childhood sexual abuse as trauma history, non-consent and dubious consent, gore, murder, attempted suicide and animal abuse mentioned. Please check Lauren Biel’s full warnings before reading and make sure the book suits your comfort level. The jokes here are about the ongoing Slaycation war on groceries, not the serious subject matter.
Five books, and the food never stood a chance
If you have read the rest of Slaycation, you already know why I am nervous every time somebody brings food into a scene.
If you have not, allow me to present the evidence.
Sinners Retreat did something to a pineapple that means I can no longer look at tropical fruit with complete innocence.
Slay Ride involved a turkey leg and somehow managed to make rockmelon suspicious.
Ship Happens is where the champagne bottle enters the chat, which is also why pouring sparkling wine for this week’s recipe feels particularly appropriate.
Then Slaughter Park brought us a deep fryer, a piping bag and further evidence that Lauren Biel should possibly be supervised in a commercial kitchen.
Which brings us to Sinners Reunion.
Josie and King are back together on a cross-country road trip five years after he disappeared from her life, and the author’s own trope list includes food play.
So apparently we are not finished.
I have not yet decided whether this is exciting or whether I need to start protecting the contents of my fridge.
What you will need
Makes 1 drink.
Scale it up for book club if several of you are making equally questionable Saturday-night decisions. There are batching notes further down.
Last Stop French 75
- 30 ml gin
- 15 ml fresh lemon juice
- 10 ml simple syrup
- 90 ml chilled dry sparkling wine, brut or extra brut
- Ice, for shaking
- Long lemon twist, to garnish
Last Stop Alcohol-Free 75
- 30 ml non-alcoholic gin alternative
- 15 ml fresh lemon juice
- 10 ml simple syrup
- 90 ml chilled alcohol-free sparkling wine, or sparkling white grape juice topped with a little soda water
- Ice, for shaking
- Long lemon twist, to garnish
Method
Step 1: Chill the glass
Put a flute or coupe in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
No freezer space because it is full of books-I-mean-food? Fill the glass with ice and cold water while you make the drink instead.
A French 75 wants to be properly cold. The colder the glass, the longer your bubbles survive.
Step 2: Shake the gin, lemon and syrup
Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice.
Shake hard for about 12 seconds, until the shaker feels properly cold.
And only shake those three ingredients.
The sparkling wine goes nowhere near the shaker unless your evening plans include wiping French 75 off the ceiling.
Step 3: Strain and add the bubbles
Empty your chilled glass, then strain the gin mixture into it.
Slowly top with the sparkling wine.
Pouring gently helps keep the fizz where it belongs, which is in your drink rather than running down the side of the glass while you reconsider your technique.
Do not stir.
The bubbles will take care of the mixing for you.
Step 4: Finish with lemon
Cut a long strip of lemon peel.
Hold it over the glass, skin side down, and give it a quick squeeze to release the oils across the surface.
Drop it into the glass and pretend this whole evening has become extremely sophisticated.
Cosy Kitchen Notes
Use dry sparkling wine and make sure it is cold. There is already simple syrup in the drink, so a sweet sparkling wine can push the whole thing into fizzy lemonade territory. Look for brut or extra brut. And serve it properly chilled. Warm French 75 is not the kind of poor decision I am recommending.
You do not need actual Champagne. Champagne is lovely. It is also completely unnecessary here unless you already have a bottle you want to open. A dry cava, cremant or Australian sparkling white works beautifully, and honestly, once gin and lemon are involved, I would rather save the expensive bottle for drinking by itself.
Flute or coupe? Both work. A flute holds onto the bubbles longer and makes the whole thing feel very polished. A coupe gives you more lemon aroma and makes me feel like I should be wearing satin somewhere with dramatically low lighting. I use the coupe. I accept the consequences.
Making these for book club? Mix the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup together ahead of time and keep it cold in the fridge. Pour roughly 55 ml of the mixture into each chilled glass, then top with sparkling wine when you are ready to serve. Do not add the sparkling wine to the jug in advance. Flat French 75 is sad, and Saturday night deserves better.
Making it alcohol-free? This is actually one of the easier cocktails to convert. The lemon, sugar and bubbles do most of the structural work already. A decent alcohol-free gin brings back the botanical flavour, and alcohol-free sparkling keeps the drink feeling celebratory rather than like somebody handed you juice while everyone else got cocktails.
French 75 variations worth making
The classic version is the one I would learn first.
After that, things can become slightly less civilised.
Blackberry French 75
This is the version I am actually making for Sinners Reunion.
Muddle 4 blackberries with the lemon juice and simple syrup before adding the gin and ice. Shake, then double strain into the glass so the seeds stay behind. Top with sparkling wine as usual.
It starts deep purple and lightens as the bubbles rise through it, which happens to look very good next to all that green and violet Sinners Reunion energy.
Am I matching my cocktail to my reading aesthetic? Obviously.
Swap the lemon twist for one blackberry on a cocktail pick if you want to fully commit.
French 76
Swap the gin for vodka. It is cleaner, softer on the botanicals and useful for that one person at book club who announces they hate gin before you have even finished asking what they want to drink.
French 95
Swap the gin for bourbon and add a small splash of orange juice alongside the lemon. It is warmer, richer and a little more autumnal. Lovely drink. Slightly optimistic choice for Brisbane in October.
Quick answers
What is in a French 75?
A classic French 75 contains gin, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and dry sparkling wine. It is usually served in a chilled flute or coupe and finished with a lemon twist. Basically, it is what happens when gin, lemon and bubbles decide they have somewhere important to be.
Should a French 75 use gin or cognac?
You will find both. Gin is the standard modern version and gives the drink its crisp, botanical edge. Cognac produces something warmer, rounder and richer, and there is plenty of historical debate around which spirit belongs in the earlier versions.
My solution is considerably less academic. Make both. Choose your favourite. Continue with your evening.
What sparkling wine is best for a French 75?
Use something dry. Brut Champagne is traditional, but dry cava, cremant or Australian sparkling wine all work beautifully and usually cost considerably less. Avoid sweeter styles because the simple syrup is already bringing sugar to the drink.
Can you make a French 75 without alcohol?
Absolutely. Use a non-alcoholic gin alternative and alcohol-free sparkling wine, then keep the lemon juice and simple syrup exactly the same. The result still has the citrus, botanicals, bubbles and little bit of ceremony that make a French 75 feel like a French 75.
And that is the point. Nobody should be stuck with the boring drink at book club.
The Last Sip
Four ingredients. About 90 seconds. One very convincing impression that Saturday night has become considerably more elegant than it really is.
The Last Stop French 75 is exactly what I wanted for the end of Slaycation. It is cold, sharp, fizzy and civilised enough to sit beside a champagne flute.
Then I am serving it with Slaughter Park Funnel Cake, because five books into this series I refuse to pretend we are actually civilised people.
Pour one, grab the Kindle, protect any unattended produce and settle in for the final road trip.
The full pairing is on the Saturday Night Sip, Snack & Smut page.
Five books. One last road trip. Absolutely no trustworthy food left.
