French Blonde Martini

This French blonde cocktail is crisp, light, flavorful, and easy to make! It's a classic cocktail that most recently became popular after being known as Taylor Swift's favorite cocktail. 

You'll love this French blonde

It's refreshing. The tart balance of the grapefruit juice with the Lillet, elderflower liqueur, and gin, come together to make such a deliciously sweet, zesty, and slightly floral cocktail that is perfect for any time of the year.

It's easy to make. Just a few simple ingredients, shaking up your cocktail, and straining it into your favorite martini glass is all it takes to make this French blonde! 

It can be made as a batched cocktail. Because this cocktail has no carbonated ingredients, it's perfect to make as a batched cocktail for your next girls' night or even Galentine's Day party. I mean look at that beautiful pink color!

Ingredients

Lillet Blanc. Lillet (pronounced lee-LAY) is a French apéritif wine. It comes in three variations, blanc, rouge, and rose. The blanc is similar to a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. 

Dry Gin. Because we are using so many other ingredients that are sweet in this recipe, I recommend sticking with the suggested dry gin. Common dry gin brands include Bombay, Hendricks or Beefeater. 

Elderflower Liqueur. You may know arguably the most common elderflower liqueur on the market, St-Germain Liqueur. You don't need to have St. Germain elderflower liqueur for this recipe, any elderflower liqueur will do! 

Fresh Grapefruit Juice. I always recommend using fresh citrus whenever making a cocktail. You can taste the flavor difference, and it's so easy to squeeze your citrus juice for drinks!

Lemon Bitters. The traditional French blonde martini does call for a dash of lemon bitters, which I used in this recipe. Lemon bitters add that lemony flavor while also adding additional levels of flavors like honey, cardamon, and/or coriander seed. I find it does make this drink less citrusy, which is nice! If you don't have lemon bitters, you can use fresh lemon juice.

How to make a French blonde

1. In a cocktail shaker, add all of your ingredients to an ice-filled cocktail shaker.
2. Shake well for 30-60 seconds.
3. Strain it into a chilled martini glass, or coupe glass.
4. Garnish and enjoy!

If you want to ensure your drink is extra smooth, I recommend you double strain your drink.

Tip:​ To make sure your martini stays as cold as possible, you will want to put this in a stemmed martini glass. That way, when you drink it, you are holding the stem, and your warm hands aren't warming your chilled drink! 

What is Lillet Blanc?

Lillet (pronounced lee-LAY) is a French aperitif made of fortified wine, various grapes (depending on the Lillet blend), and a blend of citrus liqueurs. You'll definitely want to add this to your liquor collection for the spring and summer. You can make some delicious cocktails like a Lillet Spritz or a Vesper martini. 

Substitutions and variations

Vodka. If gin isn't your thing, you can sub it out for vodka! Vodka makes a great cocktail ingredient substitute. 

French Redhead Cocktail.​ You can swap the Lillet Blanc out for the Lillet Rose to make this into a French redhead! 

Club Soda.​ If you want a little fizz to your French blonde martini recipe, you can always add a splash of club soda.

Garnish ideas

• Peel off the skin of a grapefruit or a lemon, roll it up, and put it on a cocktail garnish skewer to make a simple yet pretty garnish.
• Grapefruit peel or slice
• Lemon wheel

FAQs

What is a French blonde drink made of?

​The original recipe for a French blonde calls for grapefruit juice, gin, Lillet Blanc, elderflower liqueur, and lemon bitters.

What is the difference between French blonde and French 75?

The French blonde is a combination of citrus, gin and elderflower, whereas the French 75 includes champagne, lemon juice, and simply syrup.

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Want more martini recipes?

• Vesper Martini
• Ruby Red Grapefruit Martini
• Strawberry Lemon Drop Martini
• Lychee Martini