French Blonde Cocktail

Why we love the French blonde cocktail

There isn’t a gin cocktail I don’t like, so when I heard that Taylor was loving the french blonde cocktail, I knew I had to give it a try. And, it didn’t disappoint. This drink is unsurprisingly, very drinkable and will be on repeat for the near future in my house.

If you like gin cocktails, you have to try classic clover club cocktail or the tiki-inspired Saturn cocktail. Readers also love my lavender gin lemonade and the Floradora cocktail.

Not sure what else you can do with these ingredients? Try adding the St. Germain to a jalapeno margarita or use the Lillet blanc to make a rhubarb corpse reviver or a white negroni.

Ingredients & substitutions

• Gin – Any decent gin should work in this recipe. I used Gray Whale gin, and I really liked it.
• St. Germain – Any elderflower liqueur will work for this recipe, but we almost always have St. Germain in our fridge, so that’s what we used.
• Lillet blanc – This is a key ingredient in this drink. I don’t recommend swapping it out. Lillet has a very unique flavor, and you wouldn’t want to miss that.
• Grapefruit juice – fresh squeezed citrus is always best, but I think you can get away with bottled if grapefruit isn’t in season. If you do go with bottled, I recommend a fresh, not-from-concentrate bottle though.
• Bitters – The original recipe for this drink calls for lemon bitters, but I only had orange and I think it worked out just fine. Grapefruit or another fruity bitters should work equally well.

The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.

How to make a French blonde

Start by chilling a coupe glass. If you don’t have time to put yours in the freezer, you can chill it by letting it sit with ice and water while you’re making your drink.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the gin, grapefruit juice, St. Germain, Lillet blanc and a few dashes of bitters. Cover and shake until the drink is nice and cold.

Strain the cocktail into your chilled coupe glass and garnish with a grapefruit twist, wedge, or even a grapefruit rose if you want to get fancy. I roughly followed this tutorial to make mine, but it was surprisingly difficult so I’m not sure I’ll bother doing it again.