Something I had never had before was Cognac. I've had Brandy in other drinks, like this
Mulled Wine. I knew nothing about it and still know very little. From what I read, Cognac is to Bourbon as Brandy is to Whiskey. All Cognacs are Brandy, but not all Brandys are Cognacs. Follow? Cognac is a name that is protected like Champagne, Bourbon*, Scotch** and many other foods (cheese is a big one) that get their name from a specific region. All other products produced to be the same but not from that special region have to have a different name. Champagne/sparkling wine for example. Another thing I had to decipher is what the VSOP and VS etc. meant! VSOP stands for Very Superior Old Pale or you may hear Very Special Old Pale; it is aged a minimum of four years. VS is a shortened version, just Very Superior or Very Special. XO stands for Extra Old and is aged a minimum of six years. While I have learned these meanings, I haven't tasted each one or spent time on deciphering which I like/which is good. Who knows if I ever will, Brandy and Cognac can get into the hundreds of dollars.
The French 75 is mostly known for being made with Gin. I did see some dissent, claiming the original was made with Cognac. That would make sense since both Champagne and Cognac are French! Acurate or not, that sounded more appealing to me personally. While I do enjoy Gin, I'm still working on really liking it. Even though I had not tried Cognac something told me I would like it haha! Check this out at Liquor.com for more history on this drink.
I used the recipe found here. I did not use simple syrup because my lazy butt has yet to just make some already (Molly lazy pants!), I used powdered sugar instead. 1/2 ounce of lemon juice is roughly equal to 1/4 of a large ripe lemon.
I measured the lemon and cognac into this super handy mini measuring cup I recently picked up at Sur la Table. It's now my new favorite thing. A 'shot' is 1.5 ounces. This makes measuring 1oz or 1.5oz so much easier. The fact that I used powdered sugar necessitated a shake in the shaker, to dissolve it! It's also nice to shake with an ice cube if your liquor is at room temp.
Pour your sugar-Cognac-lemon mixture into a Champagne flute and top with 3oz of Champagne. I made this a second time and just free handed the Champagne, adding too much. It was still good, but I think the measurement of 3oz is important. That is the level where each flavor really shines. Garnish with a twist of lemon. This is my favorite new drink. Give it a try!
*Bourbon, originally from Bourbon County Kentucky now can be made anywhere in the USA and be called Bourbon. It's not so much region specific anymore as country specific.
**Scotch is also country specific, it only can be made in Scotland. I thought these two worth noting since they still have region/country rules! Both of these (Bourbon and Scotch) have more rules than just region to be able to bear their names. See here for more info on Scotch and here for more on Bourbon.