I suppose this drink doesn’t really resemble a French 75 that much anymore. But that’s where I started, so I’m keeping the name. Also, hooray! It’s my first cocktail recipe in several weeks, featuring local cranberries and a fun local spirit as well.

I created this recipe with an eye to the holidays. On Thanksgiving day, guests should be able to serve themselves their first drink while the hosts are busy in the kitchen. In my perfect Thanksgiving scenario, I’d premix a batch of all the non-sparkling ingredients and provide guests with a recipe – this much mix, this much champagne. Easy to create, no fuss.

Plus, I like the idea of keeping things light and fizzy before the meal begins.

I also am planning on talking about this on the Simple Kitchen with Missy Maki radio show about the Ultimate Oregon Thanksgiving – you can listen live on November 23! I loved the idea of featuring both Oregon cranberries (did you know they grow tons of cranberries here?) and Clear Creek Distilling’s fabulous Doug Fir Eau de Vie, which I think is one of the most interesting spirits you can put in your home bar.

Dave and I actually toured the Clear Creek distillery and learned about how they go out to Mount Hood and clip the brand new baby Doug Fir branches by hand – the ones that are bright, light green. Those are what they use to create the eau de vie, which is based on a very traditional spirit from Alsace called Eau de Vie de Bourgeons de Sapin. Not only do I recommend that you pick one up for your own home bar, but I think it would make a terrific Oregon-y gift. I can’t wait to build more cocktails around such a fun flavor.

Here’s what you need:
1 oz. gin
1/2 oz. cranberry shrub
1/4 oz. Clear Creek Distilling Doug Fir Eau de Vie
Sparkling wine – preferably something that is a dry, metohde champenoise wine.

Add the gin, shrub and Doug Fir eau de vie to a coupe glass and stir to combine. Finish with sparkling wine.

To make the cranberry shrub:
12 oz. fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 1/2 cups water

Bring all ingredients to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for about 10 minutes. The cranberries should have burst by that time.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so, then strain the fruit out of the liquid and allow to finish cooling before refrigerating.

Disclaimer! I received a bottle of Doug Fir Eau de Vie for recipe testing from Clear Creek Distillery. I approached them about the partnership because I have tried the product before, loved it, and wanted to test it out at home. Besides the product sample, this post was not compensated. I really like the spirit and I would talk about it even if I hadn’t gotten a free sample!