It was the grand combination of two quintessentially French liquors and naturally named for France’s best known avenue. The cocktail Champs-Elysées was born 100 years ago bringing the world renowned French brandy cognac, together with a stand-out French liqueur, yellow Chartreuse, whose recipe is still guarded today by the Charteruse monks who make it. Add a touch of bitters and some lemon and then shaken, not stirred just like in the James Bond films. The first mention of the cocktail can be traced back to the traditional recipe found in the 1925 work Drinks – Long and Short by Nina Toye and A. H. Adair. It already had a certain cachet at its inception in the person of Nina Toye as women mixologists were rather rare back then.

Today the cocktail has been revived by the Comité Champs-Elysées, an association grouping together 190 establishments operating in and around the Champs-Elysées and the famous house of Hennessy known the world over for its cognac. And there’s more. Hennessy’s mixologist and ambassador Adama Ballo mixed up the original cocktail and created a new version for its 100th anniversary as well as an alcohol-free version, the Champs-Elysées mocktail. 

Served icy-cold the Cocktail Champs-Elysées 1925 by Hennessy is faithful to the original of the Roaring Twenties with cognac and yellow Chartreuse and dashes of lemon and Angostura bitters and elegantly garnished with a lemon peel. Meanwhile the Cocktail Champs-Elysées 2025 by Hennessy boldly goes where no cocktail has gone before with cognac, yellow Chartreuse, apricot liqueur and dashes of verjuice and bitters garnished with an edible pansy flower. The cognac used in the cocktails is Hennessy. Meanwhile the Mocktail Champs-Elysées, whimsically called Henny’llusion, is fashioned with infused thyme, honey syrup, verjuice and ginger beer topped off with a sprig of thyme. The French concept of cocktails in the words of three-star Michelin chef Anne-Sophie Pic. « is drinks that have been prepared, » akin to French gastronomy.

The cocktail was launched by the president of the Comité Champs-Elysées Marc-Antoine Jamet and Hennessy on December 2nd at the Grand Café strategically located in the Grand Palais just off the Champs-Elysées. It is clearly worth a detour. Numerous establishments on and around the Champs-Elysées are serving the cocktails including the Flora Dancia, the mythical and genuine Danish establishment, the Peninsula Hotel and at the CopperBay Bar in the Lancaster Hotel which is also 100 years old this year. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette

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