The Lush Chef

One of my favorite champagne cocktails to make is the French 75.  I was going whale watching a few weeks ago with some friends and wanted to bring a daytime cocktail.  I had been making blood orange bitters earlier that day which requires using just the peels, so I had ton of fresh-squeezed juice.  I decided it would be perfect for a twist on the French 75.  Instead of regular sugar, I used some lemongrass simple syrup, which matches nicely with those herbal and juniper notes you get in gin.  I made a big batch of just the gin, juice and syrup in a jar so the prosecco could be added later when we were on the boat.  Next time I make this, I'll need to juice more blood oranges.  I just added some regular orange juice to make up for the lack.  If you want to make this drink for just one person, then follow the recipe above.  We quickly downed this cocktail before the sun even set, but it was the perfect way to toast a productive day of seeing the whales.  I can't wait to make this again for brunch or another day of sailing.
Sunset French 75 - serves 10-12
Ingredients:

• 3 cup freshly-squeezed blood orange juice
• 2 cups gin
• 1/2 cup lemongrass or regular simple syrup
• 1 bottle of champagne or prosecco

- In a quart-sized jar or punch bowl, add the orange juice, gin and simple syrup and stir.
- If making in a punch bowl, add all the champagne or prosecco.  If making individual drinks, fill each glass halfway with the gin/juice mixture, then top with a slightly equal amount of champagne.