A New-to-Me French Gin + A Classic French Cocktail

How could a France-lover and gin-lover NOT buy a bottle? Just look at how beautiful it is. And what’s inside is equally compelling.

I just discovered a great French gin: Citadelle Gin de France. Here’s my report.

Recently, on Facebook and Instagram pages, I mentioned that I didn’t think the French got enough credit for pasta and cocktails. I asked which readers would like to hear more about: French cocktails or French pasta.

Overwhelmingly, the answer was French cocktails. I think you are all my kind of people….

And I’m happy to oblige. So, here is my first post about great French cocktails and/or French spirits. Please let me know if you enjoy this post, as if you do, I’ll be happy to post more on French cocktails.

My Love of Gin: Rekindled in Ireland

I drank gin (and just about anything else) in my 20s; by my 30s, however, I was pretty much exclusively a wine drinker. That lasted until a few years ago when I first went to Ireland.

Of course, I drank Irish Whiskey and plenty of great Irish beers, but on about my third trip there, a lovely bartender at a little upstairs hideaway bar in Cork mentioned to us that “boutique Irish gin” was a thing.

I had no idea.

Photo from Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin Website

So, everywhere we went in Ireland, we’d try a new gin: These gins were a revelation to me—and switched me into a cocktail nut.

The Irish gins I fell in love with are known as “botanical” gins, versus your classic London dry gins. The difference (without googling it!) is, to my palate, that while London dry gins have a crystal-clear taste of juniper berries anchoring other flavors, botanical gins are just that — flavored with juniper but in a way that lets all kinds of other botanicals shine through: For example, Gunpowder Irish gin is imbued with flavors of juniper, angelica root, orris root, coriander seed, cardamom, plus star anise and caraway seed, plus Chinese lemon, oriental grapefruit, and makrut lime (kaffir lime). Though the flavors are global, there’s a wildness to these gins that reminded me of the great Wild Atlantic Way and the blustery Irish countryside itself.

Now, gin-geeks can talk all day about the obscure Irish gins you can only get in Ireland, but that doesn’t help us much stateside, now does it? So, my favorites include Gunpowder Irish Gin and Dingle Gin, both available in the U.S.

And, anyone who’s been to Scotland will also vouch for the botanical Scottish gins: Widely available stateside, the Botanist and Hendricks are both exquisite.

What About French Gin?

And so one day not long ago, I was browsing the gin aisle at my favorite liquor store, and I came upon a bottle of Citadelle Gin de France. I ask you: How could a France-lover and gin-lover NOT buy a bottle? Just look at its beauty! The light-sapphire color, the Belle-Epoque ridged glass, the gray filigree-esque cap—it all has that je-ne-sais-quoi that made me reach for it.

I brought it home and was immediately smitten. To my palate, it tastes a little more juniper-y than some other botanical gins, but it also has compelling spice-and-floral notes. I won’t pretend I can pick each out like a super-taster, but it all combines for an exquisite sip.

How to Serve Citadelle French Gin

I promised cocktail recipes, but I have to say that the best way to serve Citadelle Gin (having enjoyed the entire bottle over the past few weeks) is simply with tonic. But not too much tonic, and not just any tonic.

I use Fever Tree Tonic, top-quality tonics that truly make a difference—they’re never syrupy or overly sweet. They’re not too fizzy (but there’s plenty of fizz for refreshment) and overall, they simply taste more pure. And, of all the tonics they offer (which are many), I like Fever Tree Refreshingly Light Indian Tonic. It’s not just about less calories (which is nice), but it’s light in ways that truly let the flavors of Citadelle Gin come through. None of that saccharine-y flavor of some “light” tonics: These are naturally flavored with fruit sugars.

“But I Truly Want a French Cocktail Recipe for Citadelle Gin!”

Le Coucher de Soleil. In my opinion, the best way to enjoy Citadelle French Gin is in a gin-and-tonic (with not too much tonic and not just any tonic!). But a close second is this lovely Coucher de Soleil (Sunset) Cocktail, which is in my book, Everyday French Cooking: Modern French Cuisine Made Simple.

But if you really want a French cocktail recipe for Citadelle Gin, give it a go in Le Coucher de Soleil, a French cocktail I wrote about just the other day. I’ve enjoyed it a few times in this classic French cocktail, and it’s marvelous!