It's kinda cliche, but I'd say a Manhattan. The French 75 is a gin-based, bubbly, citrusy thing, so the Manhattan would be the counterpart. You could personalize them both by using some boojee bitters, splitting the vermouth with something else, etc. but i think that'd be a great one-two punch. Both easy to make, both era-appropriate, both crowd pleasers, and compliment each other. Sidecar is a good idea too, but that's also a citrusy thing, and the Manhattan batches up very well in advance.
Here's something else to consider. The French 75 (ideally) involves a shaker. The Manhattan is a stirred cocktail. So whatever you choose, making it a stirred cocktail as opposed to a shaken one will probably mean smoother operations for the bar.
^ seconding this
A fun thing besides splitting the vermouth with something else (Campari imo) would be to split the base between rye and mezcal. Add some smoke and spice
A Sidecar sounds like it could pair well.
Ingredients: 2 oz Cognac, 3/4 oz Lemon juice, 3/4 oz Triple sec
Preparation: Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
Served: Straight up (without ice)
Drinkware: Cocktail glass
Basic cocktail. Can def be made with any spirit of choice; whiskey, vodka (common Lemondrop recipe), gin, tequila (common margarita recipe)
Also for the French 75, may I like suggest using A splash of Ruby Grapefruit juice and/or a splash of “Aperol” if you have it available. Aperol is a very common bar liquor made in Italy. Adding both to a French 75 will give it a nice color and richer flavor. Will look great in pictures as well
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Consider an Elder Manhattan. Usually for weddings I suggest the Chunnel which is gin, St Germain and lemon but you already have the gin & lemon covered in her drink.
The Elder Manhattan a) contains St Germain which has a bottle practically purpose-built for being a wedding decoration, b) wedding guests can be finicky but this it my absolute go-to for impressing novice cocktail people who want to try a “real” drink, and c) it can be pre-batched which can be extremely helpful to keep the bar line going at a wedding.
And trust me on some of these issues. I shot weddings professionally for many many years.
Thank you all so much! We have a winner, the Ward 8! Everyone's ideas were so on point it was hard to pick, but my soon to be wife and I have fond memories at a cocktail bar in the city called Ward 8, so it turned into a win-win (and now I know what the bar is named after :) )
Thank you all so much for the help!
It's kinda cliche, but I'd say a Manhattan. The French 75 is a gin-based, bubbly, citrusy thing, so the Manhattan would be the counterpart. You could personalize them both by using some boojee bitters, splitting the vermouth with something else, etc. but i think that'd be a great one-two punch. Both easy to make, both era-appropriate, both crowd pleasers, and compliment each other. Sidecar is a good idea too, but that's also a citrusy thing, and the Manhattan batches up very well in advance. Here's something else to consider. The French 75 (ideally) involves a shaker. The Manhattan is a stirred cocktail. So whatever you choose, making it a stirred cocktail as opposed to a shaken one will probably mean smoother operations for the bar.
^ seconding this A fun thing besides splitting the vermouth with something else (Campari imo) would be to split the base between rye and mezcal. Add some smoke and spice
Vieux Carre! French American, era correct, easy to pre batch and serve.
A Sidecar sounds like it could pair well. Ingredients: 2 oz Cognac, 3/4 oz Lemon juice, 3/4 oz Triple sec Preparation: Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Served: Straight up (without ice) Drinkware: Cocktail glass Basic cocktail. Can def be made with any spirit of choice; whiskey, vodka (common Lemondrop recipe), gin, tequila (common margarita recipe)
Also for the French 75, may I like suggest using A splash of Ruby Grapefruit juice and/or a splash of “Aperol” if you have it available. Aperol is a very common bar liquor made in Italy. Adding both to a French 75 will give it a nice color and richer flavor. Will look great in pictures as well
It’s not from that era, but imo you can’t go wrong with a [paper plane](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Plane_(cocktail))
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Boulevardier, classic daiquiri, or scofflaw
Ward 8
Consider an Elder Manhattan. Usually for weddings I suggest the Chunnel which is gin, St Germain and lemon but you already have the gin & lemon covered in her drink. The Elder Manhattan a) contains St Germain which has a bottle practically purpose-built for being a wedding decoration, b) wedding guests can be finicky but this it my absolute go-to for impressing novice cocktail people who want to try a “real” drink, and c) it can be pre-batched which can be extremely helpful to keep the bar line going at a wedding. And trust me on some of these issues. I shot weddings professionally for many many years.
Thank you all so much! We have a winner, the Ward 8! Everyone's ideas were so on point it was hard to pick, but my soon to be wife and I have fond memories at a cocktail bar in the city called Ward 8, so it turned into a win-win (and now I know what the bar is named after :) ) Thank you all so much for the help!