Have you ever dreamed of having an amazing home bar, filled with bottles you actually use and the tools you need to execute a fine crafted cocktail? Enter the Home Bar Project. Through this series we are going to take this challenge piece by piece. We’ll teach you the proper techniques and make sure the spirits you purchase aren’t collecting dust on your back bar.

About the instructor:
Dan Lan Hamm is a craft bartender at 1 Tippling Place in Philadelphia. He was Pennsylvania's winner of Bombay Sapphire and GQ's Most Imaginative Bartender Competition in 2014. He runs Spirit Forward, a cocktail-centric group which caters local events and provides educational workshops.

This week: How to Make a French 75

They say this drink has such a kick, it's like being shelled by a French 75mm field gun. It was first coined by Harry MacElhone, who worked at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in 1915. It was popularized in America at the Stork Club in New York City, and it was first recored in print in the Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. This drink has forgone many changes over the years. Some like it served on cracked ice. If you go to Arnaud's French 75 Bar in New Orleans, you'll get it with cognac. Anywhere else you'll generally get gin. Who's to say which one is right? They are all delicious.

Ingredients:
Fresh lemon juice
Simple syrup
London dry gin
Champagne or Sparkling Wine
A lemon peel

Step 1 of 7:

Add 1/2 oz lemon juice in small shaker

Step 2 of 7:

Add 1/2 oz simple syrup

Step 3 of 7:

Add 1 oz gin

Step 4 of 7:

Shake ingredients 3-5 seconds with a few ice cubes

Step 5 of 7:

Strain into glass

Step 6 of 7:

Top with approx. 2 oz of sparkling wine

Step 7 of 7:

Garnish with lemon zest

Tip: Discard lemon peel after expressing oils

Enjoy!

Photos by The Drink Nation