Paris is soon to be the site of tennis’s most grueling surface. Roland Garros will host the men’s and women’s championships on the red clay beginning this week. One of the images we are certain to see during coverage is the Arc de Triomphe on what is, perhaps, Europe’s most infamous street — right there with the Brandenburg Gate, Watling Street, and the Appian Way. The Champs-Élysées is witness to a history of enormous magnitude. The Arc de Triomphe was erected to honor the soldiers who died in the service of France during the Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. It caps the Champs-Élysées, which translates from the Greek “Elysian Fields” — a place for dead heroes.

I’ve been fortunate in life to visit France many times and even lived there for a brief period. There’s nothing quite like the promenade up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe from the Jardins des Champs-Élysées. It’s sort of an ethereal experience. The promenade is the sort of humanistic experience that, to me, France has always seemed to understand better than anyone else. The stroll, the four-hour dinner or two-hour lunch, small bites of the richest food but in moderation, and a dogged determination to live and enjoy life that takes precedence over all else — all unheard of on this side of the pond. I once had a taxi driver cancel my pickup to the airport in Paris because the traffic would have kept him from his planned bike ride. I didn’t appreciate this happening to me, but I did appreciate the devotion to a life well lived.

I’ve mentioned many times on this blog the debates and disagreements between London and Paris over cocktails. When we did the Sidecar, I noted that London and Paris disagree on matters of origin and potion. This week’s cocktail takes the name of this promenade and is a riff on the Sidecar. The Champs-Élysées cocktail hails from les Années folles — their version of the Roaring Twenties. Two prominent drinks books from the era — the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) and the earlier Drinks—Long and Short (1925) mention the drink. It follows a classic, repeated ratio that normally leads to a good drink, no matter what you’re subbing into the mix. It substitutes a herbal liqueur, Chartreuse, for the orange liqueur of a Sidecar, which is quite fitting for a stroll in the gardens, then up to the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées with the Jardins des Champs-Élysées at your back. The Sidecar is one of my favorite cocktail templates, and this one doesn’t disappoint.

We need to emulsify the lemon juice and create some air to make the drink light and fluffy, so this is a shaken cocktail. Chill your glass in the freezer. Add the ingredients to a shaker tin and load the other half with ice. Bring them together for a classic shake and then fine-strain into your glass. Garnish with the blueberries. Enjoy!

Clarified Version. This is a sour (a daisy really), so in terms of technique, it is straightforward to clarify the cocktail (below right). Add room-temperature milk or coconut milk to a glass container. Add your cocktail ingredients to another vessel. Bring the cocktail to the milk, not the other way around. Allow this mixture to sit and curdle for about 45 mins. Then rest it in the refrigerator until well chilled —an hour will do. I always find this helps with clarification, though I don’t know why. Then, fine-strain the cocktail through a dampened coffee filter. You might find it a little cloudy initially, simply run this first bit through the filter once it is running clear. I tend to prefer coconut milk for this drink, but either milk works just fine and dandy.

Glass: Coupe or Nick and Nora 

The classic Champs-Élysées uses Cognac. Here I used Martell Blue Swift. But you have options. The drink is a brandy sour (really a brandy daisy), and nearly any brandy will make a tasty version. Armagnac would give the drink a slightly rougher edge than that of Cognac. Calvados would bring bright, fresh apple flavor to the drink. Even Apple Jack, like Laird’s, would work well. If you’re skimpy on your Cognac, simple Paul Masson Grande Amber will do a Workman’s job and give you a tasty drink.

The recipe you see in bars will most typically opt for Green Chartreuse. But the original recipe doesn’t actually say which Chartreuse is used. Using Yellow Chartreuse gives the drink less anise flavor and more saffron and honey notes, which I actually prefer (above left). Génépy is also a good choice. 

I go a little heavier on the Angostura than most folks do. Feel free to half my amount. But do not skip it altogether. The drink needs the Angostura for spice. Boker’s style bitters (i.e., Cardamom bitters) work well, too. If you’re using Yellow Chartreuse, the addition of two dashes of orange bitters also works wonders. Same for the garnish — orange will also work. The classic garnish is lemon peel, but I had some great blueberries and, frankly, prefer berries to peel. You do you. Strawberry garnishes go really nicely with the Yellow Chartreuse version, though I garnished the one above with an edible flower.

If you like the Champs-Élysées, let me know in the comments if you prefer Green or Yellow Chartreuse. Or, perhaps, Génépy is your go-to out of preference or necessity?

This blog is, as ever, an opinionated take on drinks.

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