French Connection Cocktail - A Pork Pie Hats Off To Cognac

Two French Connection Cocktails Brandy About

The French Connection cocktail pairs amaretto with brandy and drink recipes call for Cognac rather than Armagnac. Even though both of these brandies are connected to regions in France, Armagnac is rarely specified in cocktails (the D'Artagnan is an example of one that does).

Does Cocktail’s History Have Connections To The Book And Movie

The Godfather has strong ties to the French Connection as a book / movie and as a cocktail. In literature and film, both books were published in 1969 and became movies shortly afterwards, The French Connection* in 1971 and the first of the Godfather trilogy in 1972. Their storylines involving the criminal activities of gangsters in mob syndicates as a central theme is something they have in common with each other as well.

As cocktails, both are two part amaretto drink recipes and each is officially listed in the sweet after-dinner category by the IBA. Others include the Golden Dream and the Grasshopper.

So what’s the final tie that binds their histories together. The Godfather cocktail (Scotch instead of Cognac) was “created during the 1970s in the USA” according to the Disaronno website, makers of the Originale brand of Amaretto. Since both of these drink creations needed a name around that same time and shared so many other similarities, you make the connection.

Behind The Bar - How To Make The French Connection Cocktail At Home

French Connection Cocktail:

1 ½ oz  Cognac ¾ oz  amaretto almond flavored liqueur

Mix over cubes in an old fashioned glass. Or, just use one big ball of ice as pictured to delay drink dilution. Note: the International Bartender Association’s official formula is equal parts Cognac and amaretto.

French Connection #2 Drink Recipe:

1 ½ oz  Cognac ¾ oz  Grand Marnier orange flavored brandy liqueur

Same preparation as the classic cocktail above. Just replace Italy in the original recipe with another shot of France.

This is one themed party your home bar could host with you as the hipster barback wearing your pork pie hat.

References

* - The French Connection movie starred Gene Hackman as detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle who never went anywhere without his hipster styled pork pie hat (like a Fedora with a narrower brim and flat top that’s dished in a circle). The film had one of the greatest car chases in movie history and was the first R-rated Academy Award winner for best picture after the rating system was introduced. The French Connection definitely deserves to have a hip drink named after it. Maybe even two.