French Blonde Cocktail: Flirty, Floral and Fun
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Shake off any doubts about the French Blonde cocktail. While it may or may not be Taylor Swift’s favorite cocktail, there’s no debate that it’s flirty, floral and fun to sip.
We didn’t craft the French Blonde just because of the Taylor Swift connection. While we appreciate Tay Tay’s musical acumen, we’re far from being hard-core Swifties. However, once we tasted the cocktail, we couldn’t shake it off.
Perhaps it was karma as we’re currently having a love story with the flirty, floral cocktail that enchanted us with its delicate yet gorgeous flavors and peachy pink hue. If you have a problem with our infatuation, that’s so high school and you need to calm down. Better yet, go drink a French Blonde cocktail and see if you are in love, too.
Fun Fact
For the non-Swifties out there: Shake It Off, Karma, Love Story, Enchanted, Delicate, Gorgeous, So High School, You Need to Calm Down and You Are in Love are all Taylor Swift song titles.
What Is the French Blonde Cocktail?
The French Blonde delivers more than its fanciful name suggests. Despite that name and its pleasant pink hue, the French Blonde is a surprisingly complex cocktail thanks to its eclectic list of ingredients: gin, Lillet Blanc, St-Germain, lemon bitters and grapefruit juice.
The combination of those five ingredients creates a colorful cocktail that’s simultaneously sweet, sour, fruity and herbaceous. It also creates a cocktail that smells fragrantly fresh and downright delightful.
History of the French Blonde Cocktail
The French Blonde is currently having a moment thanks to its association with Taylor Swift. In January 2024, Page Six spilled the tea that Taylor Swift ordered the cocktail (plus pasta and to-go cinnamon buns) at Rye restaurant in the Kansas City area. In that article, the bar’s owner referred to the French Blonde as the blonde superstar’s favorite cocktail.
This is just one era in the French Blonde’s history. The cocktail may date as far back as the 1920s, or it may have been ‘invented’ after St-Germain, a French elderflower liqueur, debuted in 2007. Yes, while the St-Germain brand seems like it’s centuries old, the iconic elderflower liqueur is actually relatively new.
Ingredients
Although the French Blonde’s ingredient list is relatively short, the following required ingredients are far from ordinary:
Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.
You should be able to buy a grapefruit at your local market. However, you may need to visit multiple liquor stores to buy the different liquors. Besides gin, the other liquors are a bit posh and therefore may not be available everywhere. We had to travel across town for the lemon bitters. Kudos if you already have them in your liquor cabinet.
How to Craft a French Blonde Cocktail
After you gather the necessary ingredients and a few basic bar tools, the first step is to measure the gin, Lillet Blanc and St-Germain. We use a Japanese jigger for this step to ensure accurate measurements and minimize spillage.
Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you need a jigger or want an inexpensive upgrade.
Pour the three measured liquids directly into a shaker.
Pour the freshly squeezed grapefruit juice into the same shaker.
Add three dashes of lemon bitters.
Toss in a handful of ice cubes and shake until the liquids are chilled and combined.
Pro Tip
Feel free to sing or hum Shake It Off during this step.
Strain the shaken liquids into a coupe or martini glass.
Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Sip, savor and repeat until the glass is empty.
Variations
Although this French Blonde’s recipe is fully realized, feel free to get creative with the following variations:
Discover 10 essential bar tools for the home mixologist.
French Blonde Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ounce gin (dry)
- 2 ounces Lillet Blanc (aromatized wine)
- 1/2 ounce St-Germain (elderflower liqueur)
- 3 dashes lemon bitters
- 2 ounces grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
- ice cubes (for shaking)
- 1 grapefruit twist (garnish)
Equipment
Instructions
- Add gin, Lillet Blanc, St-Germain, lemon bitters, grapefruit juice and ice cubes into a shaker.
- Shake until the liquids are combined and chilled.
- Strain into a coupe or martini glass.
- Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Nutrition
💡 Frequently Asked Questions
A French Blonde cocktail is a flirty and floral cocktail that’s crafted with gin, St-Germain, Lillet Blanc, lemon bitters and grapefruit juice.
Gin, Lillet Blanc, St-Germain, Lemon Bitters, Grapefruit Juice, Grapefruit Twist (for garnish) and Ice Cubes (for shaking)
The French Blonde cocktail is shaken, not stirred.
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