Cocktails for France’s Licence III

Recently, someone contacted me on Instagram asking for cocktail recipes that could be served in a bar that only had Licence III.

I have already written on the alcohol-free (in French) (but this can be served in any bar) or the low-alcohol (in French), but never on the Licence III. It's actually a stylistic figure imposed by legislation, which restricts the list of ingredients, and not a rule that would, for example, apply to the final cocktail's alcohol level.

That's why some recipes I have described as low, could not be served under Licence III, as they contain an ingredient, however small in quantity, not included in the authorized list.

Ingredients authorized with the Licence III

As you'll see, the ingredients allowed under Licence III are quite limited…

Wine
Beer
Cider
Vermouth
Porto, Sherry etc.
Fruit creams (cassis, raspberry, etc)
Aperitifs (Aperol)

And that's about all! And we must add one more constraint: everything must not exceed 18°: that is, Apérol is allowed, but… not Campari (in French), which has an alcohol content of 28°, while these are two amari from the same family.

At first I thought, 'Oh, easy, I'm sure I already have plenty of recipes on this blog.' But after digging through, I realized… not quite, and even then, there are all kinds of variations on the spritz. There's always a small shot of cognac or gin lingering in the mix. Even the marasquin, I couldn't find one with an alcohol content lower than 18°. Goodbye, Diplomate cocktail.

The good news is that many of these cocktails originate from Italian aperitifs (based on vermouth). I've included a few recipes traditionally made with Campari, but which you can easily prepare with Aperol (which slips through the cracks). I hope to soon expand this list with more recipes: