An Unexpected Chapter

Recently I read that when Taylor Swift goes to her favorite Kansas City restaurant, her cocktail of choice is a French Blonde. (You can also read this life changing news story here.)

With some investigation I found that the French Blonde is a fresh fruity and herbal cocktail with grapefruit juice, Lillet Blanc, gin, elderflower liqueur, and either lemon juice or lemon bitters. (If you have had a bad experience with gin, you can use vodka in its place. It won’t be Taylor’s cocktail, but it will still be good.)

Upon reading this, I: a). Wanted to try a French Blonde too and b). Wanted to make one good enough that Taylor would be my friend.

My first hurdle to exchanging friendship bracelets with Taylor was my lack of knowledge concerning gin. Sure, I’ve had it, and I’m pretty fond of a good French 77 at brunch. But identifying a good gin from a bad gin? No idea; they all taste like pine needles to me. (Or so I assumed. I wasn’t entirely sure I had ever tried anything other than Tanqueray.)

So I raided the mini section of Total Wine and bought two teeny tiny gin bottles (The Botanist and Hendricks) and one small one (Bombay Sapphire, which was out of stock in mini form). The day before my first French Blonde attempt, I did a gin tasting. Which brings me to:

Gin Tasting Notes from a Non-Gin Drinker: A Thing Absolutely No One Asked For

Very important research

Hendricks:

I sniffed the gin first. Hendricks didn’t smell like much, which made me instantly suspicious. It’s generally the quiet ones that knock you out. True of me, true of alcohol. I took a sip and was gratified to learn that I was right. Nothing quiet about this gin. The abundance of flavors made it a punch to the mouth.

The Botanist:

Sniffing The Botanist, my thought was “day drinking Alpine skier.” (Don’t question it.) Upon tasting, I decided I could be a gin fan. The flavor was lovely, like citrus and herbs.

Bombay Sapphire: 

Sorry, Bombay Sapphire fans, but your gin choice smells like cough syrup. The taste is rather pleasant, a nice middle ground between Hendricks and The Botanist, assertive without being overwhelming. If you don’t sniff it first, it’s a nice choice.

Making the French Blonde

Finishing my gin tasting, I had very strong feelings about what I do and don’t like in a gin, but once mixers were added in, things got messy. My least favorite in a solo tasting (Hendricks) was my favorite in cocktail format.

I made mini blonde flights (⅓ oz gin in each tiny glass then missing all other ingredients in a cocktail shaker and distributing evenly among the 3 mini glasses). I did this twice, as a French Blonde can be made with either lemon bitters or lemon juice. I couldn’t find lemon bitters initially, so I tried lemon juice first, and a week later when I finally found lemon bitters, I tried it over again.

The battle of the blondes

To be clear, a French Blonde is drastically better with lemon bitters than with lemon juice. I am a person who adores both bitter and sour flavors (I sucked on lemons as a child, much to the dismay of my tooth enamel and every dentist I have ever had), and I thought the lemon juice option was too much. The bitters version was perfect.

Lemon bitters are a bit tricky to find. I finally found them on my fourth attempt. You know, after successfully locating Angostura, orange, grapefruit, rhubarb, celery, mint, cherry, lavender, peach, walnut, and Aztec chocolate bitters, none of which I needed. (I wish I were kidding about this. The world of bitters is broad and unevenly distributed.) You can order lemon bitters on Amazon if your local stores fail, but you’ll pay $5 more than you will at a local store.

Gin Preferences in a French Blonde with Lemon Juice

Favorite: Hendricks. Well balanced flavors. The herbal flavors that were so extra alone became perfect when sweet and bitter flavors were added.

Second favorite: Bombay Sapphire. This was the most floral tasting option, and it had a curious but intriguing cucumber note.

Least favorite (but still tasty): The Botanist. All of the delicate flavors I loved about The Botanist was lost here, and it was more bitter and sour than other options. I would have liked it more if I hadn’t tried the other options.

Gin Preferences in a French Blonde with Lemon Bitters (drastically preferred)

Favorite: Hendricks. Again, this is a well balanced, lovely drink.

Second Favorite: The Botanist. If you want a more delicate and gentle gin flavor, this will be your first choice. I like herbal flavors, so it was second for me.

Least favorite (but still tasty): Bombay Sapphire. That cucumber flavor I found intriguing in the lemon juice was stronger here without the lemon to slightly cancel it.

In summary: A French Blonde with lemon bitters is superior to one made with lemon juice. Hendricks is the best gin for this cocktail unless one does not like too many herbal notes, in which case one should use The Botanist (if using bitters) or Bombay Sapphire (if using lemon juice).

The French Blonde

French Blonde
Servings: 1

				Prep Time: Less than 5 minutes
			
Difficulty: Easy
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If you skipped directly to the recipe, lemon bitters (if you can find them) are better than lemon juice and Hendricks was my preferred gin for this cocktail. Also, refrigerate your Lillet Blanc after opening as it is not shelf stable and use within 2 months. Below the recipe, I have recommendations of how to use up your Lillet Blanc. Never purchased Lillet Blanc? You'll find it next to the vermouths in the store.

Ingredients

*  2 oz. grapefruit juice (1 large grapefruit juiced is enough for 2 to 3 French Blondes)
* 2 oz. Lillet Blanc 
* 1 oz gin 
* ½ oz elderflower liqueur (St-Germaine or similar)
* 3 dashes lemon bitters (or 1 teaspoon lemon juice)

Directions

1. Juice your grapefruit.
2. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker full of ice. Shake vigorously.
3. Pour into a martini glass or coupe glass. Garnish with lemon peel, if desired.

A note on Lillet Blanc: Much like vermouth, Lillet needs to be refrigerated and used within 1 to 2 months. (If you haven’t been refrigerating your vermouth, no judgment here. Apparently, I made several questionable Manhattans before learning that vermouth is not shelf stable.) To use it up, you can obviously make more French Blondes, but other cocktails should be considered. The most well known cocktail containing Lillet is probably the Vesper, James Bond’s signature cocktail introduced in Casino Royale. Food & Wine has a selection of Lillet cocktails here (and it includes the Vesper). If you don’t mind a sweeter drink, you can try it alone. Sipping it solo, it tasted strongly of honey, like mead’s rebellious older sister.