French Blonde Cocktail: Flirty, Floral and Fun

Shake off any doubts about the French Blonde cocktail. While it may or may not be Taylor Swift's favorite cocktail, there's no doubt that it's flirty, floral and fun to sip.

French Blonde CocktailPhoto by2foodtrippers

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 Swifities. However, once we tasted the cocktail, we couldn't shake it off.

Perhaps it was karma since 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 infatuaion, 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 herbacous. 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 of 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:

• 1 ounce gin
• 2 ounces Lillet Blanc
• 1/2 ounce St. Germain
• 3 dashes lemon bitters
• 2 ounces grapefruit juice
• ice cubes (for shaking)
• 1 grapefruit twist (garnish)

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 the French Blonde's four liquor ingredients. If not, here's a quick recap of each:

Dry Gin: Any quality dry gin will work in this recipe but we recommend uCsing something special like Stillhouse Wild gin from Namibia. With an ABV of 42%, the pink-hued handcrafted gin features hibiscus, cascara coffee cherries, rosemary, angelica root and coriander in its botanical roster. If you have a special bottle of gin hanging around, you should pull it out when you craft this elegant gin cocktail.

Lillet Blanc: An aromatized wine, Lillet Blanc is aged white Bordeaux wine that's blended with fruit liqueurs (mostly citrus). It's a key ingredient in the Corpse Reviver #2, the Vesper Martini and the White Negroni. With a 17% ABV, it's also delightful to drink over ice as an aperitif.

St-Germain: Produced in France with an ABV of 20%, St-Germain isn't a typical elderflower liqueur. Each bottle of St-Germain has up to 1,000 elderflower blossoms in its mix. The result is an elderflower liqueur that smells and tastes like a floral fantasy. Plus, it's easy to love the chic design of the St-Germain bottle.

Lemon Bitters: The Bitter Truth's lemon bitters are the world's first commercially sold lemon bitters. Produced in Germany with an ABV of 39%, these lemon bitters provide a bright citrus punch that completes the French Blonde's flavors.

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.

Pour the three measured liquors directly into a shaker.

Pour the freshly squeezed grapefruit 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 - approximately 20 seconds.

Pro Tip: Frell 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 untl the glass is empty.

Variations

Although this French Blonde's recipe is fully realized, feel free to get creative with the following variations:

• Add extra St-Germain to craft a sweeter French Blonde cocktail.
• Replace the gin with vodka if you're not a gin lover.
• Replace the St-Germain with another elderflower liqueur or even elderflower syrup if you don't have a bottle of St-Germain.
• Replace the Lillet Blanc with white vermouth if you don't have a bottle of Lillet Blanc.
• Replace the lemon bitters with lemon juice if you don't have a bottle of lemon bitters.
• Use commercial grade grapefruit juice if you don't have access to a fresh grapefruit.

This recipe was originally published on 2foodtrippers. Consider subscribing to 2foodtrippers if you enjoyed it.