French Kiss Cocktail

Tart, sweet, and with a bit of a kick, this French Kiss Cocktail is THE perfect cocktail to serve on New Year’s Eve, especially when you want to kiss this year goodbye! This raspberry and lemon sparking drink is simple to make and so delicious.

Sweet Raspberry Champagne Cocktail

Who is READY to say goodbye to 2020? I’m pretty sure collectively we all are. Let’s all celebrate saying goodbye to the year that threw us so many curveballs with this super fun and delicious French Kiss Cocktail! This recipe has been a popular one on my site for many years, and we’re happy to republish it today with some brand new photos so more of you can find it!

This raspberry and lemon-flavored drink is bright, sweet, and super fun and the perfect cocktail for a celebration thanks to that bubbly!

Let’s Start with the Ingredient List

• Fresh Raspberries
• Vodka
• Lemons
• Chambord
• Mint Simple Syrup (see the section below on simple syrup)
• Champagne

How to Customize It

While we love the mash-up of raspberry, lemon, and mint in this cocktail, there is certainly room to play a bit here with this recipe.

Fruit: Swap in another berry that you like (though you may want to swap in a different liqueur than the raspberry flavored Chambord)

The Bubbly: Don’t want to use or don’t have champagne? You can also use Prosecco or Moscato wine to a similar effect.

Citrus: Swap in another citrus, such as orange or lime!

Vodka: This adds just an extra kick to the cocktail, but it’s fairly easy enough to leave it out for a less heavy-handed cocktail.

This recipe makes enough for 6 drinks, based on the fact that a common champagne bottle serves just about that. However, it’s really simple to make the cocktail based on the number of servings you need. You’ll notice most of the recipe calls for 6 of each unit of ingredients, so it’s fairly simple math to figure out that most units are 1 per drink.

Why It’s Important to Make a Simple Syrup

Simple syrup is basically just water and sugar cooked together to create a liquid sweetener that easily dissolves in other liquids, such as a cocktail. As usual, we’re avoiding the use of refined sugars in this and we’re swapping sugar for honey! You might be wondering why you need to make a simple syrup at all, since honey is liquid already. But trust us, honey by itself won’t mix directly into any cocktail. Our recipe is for a mint simple syrup, which is so good in this cocktail! But, the truth is, you can go ahead and use any simple syrup you want for this recipe.

How to Make a French Kiss Cocktail

This cocktail is pretty simple to make, and we’re avoiding the cocktail shaker all together and making them directly in the glass. Add a few berries to the bottom of your glass, and gently muddle them, just until they release some of the liquid. Then top it off with the remaining ingredients and gently stir it together.

Serve immediately with a lemon twist garnish!

How to Make a Lemon Twist

Let’s get fancy with this cocktail! Though this step is totally optional, it adds a certain flair to the drink.

Either use a sharp paring knife or a sharp vegetable peeler and remove about a 4” continuous strip of zest, with as little pith as possible. Or cut the rind off altogether. Twist the citrus peel and hang on the lip of the cocktail glass to garnish!

If you like this cocktail recipe, check out these others:

• The BEST Margarita Ever!
• Naturally Sweetened Mint Mojito
• Raspberry Gin Cocktail
• Lemon Honey Vodka Cocktail

French Kiss Cocktail

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

  

• 1 quart raspberries
• 6 tablespoons vodka
• 6 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 6 teaspoons Chambord optional
• 6 teaspoons mint simple syrup see notes
• 1 bottle Champagne Prosecco, or Moscato wine
• 2 whole lemons to make a lemon twist

Instructions

• Place 3-5 berries in the bottom of your 6 champagne glasses.
• Using the bottom of a wooden spoon (or muddler), gently muddle raspberries just until they release some of their juices, but are still intact.
• Divide vodka, lemon juice, optional Chambord, and simple syrup between the glasses and stir together.
• Fill up the glass with champagne and serve with a lemon twist.

Notes

We’re linking a recipe for mint simple syrup made with honey for this, but feel free to just use whatever simple syrup you have available.

To make a lemon twist to garnish your cocktail: either use a sharp paring knife or a sharp vegetable peeler and remove about a 4” continuous strip of zest, with as little pith as possible. Twist the citrus peel and hang on the lip of the cocktail glass to garnish!

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 recipeCalories: 204kcalCarbohydrates: 3gCholesterol: 3mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6g

Keyword: French Kiss Cocktail

Course: Drink

Author: Lexi Davidson

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