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Champs Élysées
A Cognac sour from the 1920s that uses yellow Chartreuse in place of orange liqueur.
Base spirit
Cognac
Style
Sour
Glassware
Coupe
Technique
Shake
The Champs-Élysées keeps the Sidecar’s Cognac-and-lemon frame but swaps orange liqueur for yellow Chartreuse. Cognac provides dried-fruit richness, lemon keeps the drink bright, and Chartreuse adds honeyed herbal depth that softens the need for much additional sugar. Shaken and served up, it reads as a French sour with more spice than a standard Sidecar. Harry MacElhone printed an early version in the 1920s.
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Ingredients
Servings
- • 2 oz Cognac
- • 0.75 oz yellow Chartreuse
- • 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
- • 1 tsp simple syrup
- • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Did you know?
“An early Champs-Élysées recipe appears in Harry MacElhone’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails (1923), pairing Cognac with Chartreuse and lemon.”
Source:Harry MacElhone, ABC of Mixing Cocktails (1923)
Bartender's Note
Yellow Chartreuse already sweetens; add only a teaspoon of syrup if the Cognac is especially dry. Shake hard and fine-strain for a clean surface.
Missing a bottle? See smart swaps in Learn.
How to make the Champs Élysées
- 1Add Cognac, yellow Chartreuse, lemon juice, simple syrup, and Angostura to a shaker with ice
- 2Shake until well chilled
- 3 into a chilled coupe
- 4Garnish with a lemon twist
