This Strawberry French 75 features fresh prosecco and fresh basil. You need this naturally sweet, bubbly cocktail at your next party!
I whipped up this Strawberry French 75 recipe to use an unopened bottle of bubbly that had been languishing in my fridge after a party. It's a a fruity twist on a classic cocktail with less refined sugar than the original!
We have had a bottle of Prosecco sitting, unpopped, in our fridge for months. Some friends brought it over for a get-together, and we just never cracked it. There's no way I could finish off a whole bottle of bubbles on my own before it went flat.
Then, last week, Dave suggested that we just pitch it. Rather than let a good bottle of wine go to waste, I decided to pop this bottle open and make a summery twist on a French 75!
More basil cocktails: Watermelon-Basil Martini with Cracked Black Pepper, Peach-Basil Lemon Drop, Grapefruit-Basil Vodka Gimlet
A traditional French 75 is made with champagne, gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. In the recipe below, I'm replacing the sugary simple syrup with fresh strawberries, a touch of (optional) sugar, basil, and straight up lemon juice.
Strawberry French 75
This fruity French 75 is all about muddling together the sweet, bright, herbal strawberry-basil-gin cocktail base.
If you're making this for a party, there is minimal prep to do. You'll muddle two drinks at a time, so all that you need to do to get ready for guests is slice up your strawberries, juice a few lemons, and wash that basil.
The muddled mix couldn't be easier to make, no simple syrup required. Just throw your berries, basil, lemon juice, water, sugar, and gin into your glass. Mush and mash with a spoon or a muddling tool, then top off with your prosecco.
Throw some ice into your shaker with the fruity mix, and shake, shake shake! Then, strain the mix into a glass, top it off with champagne or Prosecco, and sip.
Strawberry French 75
Ingredients
For the Strawberry-Basil Gin Cocktail Mix
- 8 fresh strawberries - sliced, leaves removed, plus extra for garnish
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 2 fresh lemons - or 4 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
- 3 ounces gin
- 1 teaspoons sugar - divided, optional
For the French 75s
- 1 750 mL bottle Prosecco or Champagne - chilled (this is very important!)
Instructions
Make the Strawberry-Basil-Gin Cocktail Mix for TWO Drinks
- Combine 4 of the sliced strawberries, about 8 leaves of basil, juice of 1 lemon (or 2 tablespoons), 1 ½ ounces of gin, and ½ teaspoon of the optional sugar in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Use a spoon or muddling tool to mash the strawberries and bruise the basil leaves, to release their flavor.
- Fill the shaker with ice, then shake well.
Make the French 75s
- Strain the mix two Champagne flutes or white wine glasses. Top the glasses off with your prosecco, garnish with a strawberry slice, and serve.
Dianne
I often see cocktail recipes that look good but contain too much sugar, so I skip them. So I love that you replaced the sugar with fresh strawberries! I'm looking forward to trying this next weekend!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Dianne! I'm with you - sugary cocktails make me feel so terrible, especially the next day. Cheers!