I know this isn't specifically travel but I need some help. I've been to France and loved it and I know food and drinks can be regional but Im wondering what French men drink if they take a girl out for 'cocktails' before dinner or isn't this done?
any help is appreciated, Thanks

Hi T,

I believe that the French are more likely to have a glass of wine than a cocktail.

PS,

Have you considered asking her what she would like and then ordering two?

Thanks Ira, I'm not going on a date! just need the info for a short story. Thankyou for the input...

Sorry, virtually none of the French men we know in the country would have a glass of wine. Either a whisky, a 'vin cuit' like port, or vermouth, something local like vin de noix. Or pastis, especially in the summer.

But then they are all too old to be taking a girl out for drinks (aperitif, or more commonly, apero) This is what they would drink before dinner.

My hubby and our friends like to have a glass of a good wine as aperitif. They keep whisky (or Cognac or good Rhum) for after dinner. Girls either drink wine or vin cuit or fruit juice.

There could be all sorts of generational variations.

You could try http://www.askafrenchman.net/, but don't expect an immediate reply.

The pre-dinner drinks I most often see my French friends drink include pastis, port, and kir.

Going out for cocktails sounds very non-French to me.

I think, and correct me if I am wrong, that taking a girl out for cocktails before dinner is a bit more ritualized affair than having an aperitif in France.

Especially as OP wants to use it as a scene in his short story, I would say that asking out a girl for dinner and cocktails before dinner has a slightly different connotation in the US than the same dinner and aperitif combo has in France.

In the US it could be seen as an effort by the man to make the evening more special than "just" asking her out for dinner. While the aperitif before the French dinner is a much more normal, do it or don't do it affair.

Almost any (mostly alcoholic) beverage will qualify, from a pastis to a small beer. Or a cocktail, by the way. In summer, most of my male French friends usually have a small beer, and ladies as well or bitter-based drink like the Aperol Spritz.

"what French men drink if they take a girl out for 'cocktails' before dinner or isn't this done?"

As Padraig said, it is not really done. If a man takes a girl out it is for dinner. They may have a drink (apéritif) before the meal but it will be at the restaurant.

As others said, it isn't done. It's a very American concept. The apéritif will be at the restaurant.

Almost no French man in Paris would order a glass of wine. Just about anyone I know would order a pastis or a beer, often a speciality brew like Hoegaarden or Leffe or a "blanche". If the women wants a glass of champagne, often the man will order one for himself as well.

Many men will just order a Perrier or a Coke.

Now if they are going out to a real cocktail bar during happy hour, the current fad in Paris is the mojito.

Pastis, Suze(Tastes like a Campari)

French men drink very different things depending on where in France they live, their age, their style, the season/weather and just personal tastes. And since it is a work of fiction, as long as you don't choose a drink that isn't found in France it could be anything really.

Indeed, as coco said, French men do tend to drink wine in the wine regions. Since Paris is not a wine region, it is probably the principal reason that Parisian men do not tend to drink wine as a cocktail or apéritif.

And since there is no typically "Parisian" drink, it would tend to imply that Parisian men have by far the largest diversity in the sort of things they might drink. I do know that kir has gone out of fashion in Paris although it is still drunk quite a bit by some people, and of course pastis is very seasonal (drunk mostly in warm weather). "Ginto" (gin & tonic) has a certain number of followers -- frankly, I could not cite a single beverage that stands above the others in Paris.

She's not French, but this Parisian has a great blog about cocktails - if info on the cocktail "scene" in Paris might help with the story.

http://www.52martinis.com/

I remember posting on 52 martinis.
and that day they mention having mojitos
and caipis (a Brazilian muddled drink, I think)

Something I am not used to has occurred in last few visits to France.. when ordering a Kir,, I have on occaison been asked with what I would like it made, ie: kir/cassis,kir / peche etc,, now whats up with that,, I have always always thought kir was made with white wine and cassis,, period,, but now apparently it is offered with other liquers?? This happened the last time in Chantilly , in a hole in the wall type place , it caught me off guard.. I said cassis of course,, but changed my mind and tryed the peach one,, it was very yummy, but I have not been able to duplicate it here as our peach liquers are too sweet.

Kir as branched out from "white wine-cassis". Now you are given 3 other choices in most cases: peach, blackberry or raspberry. And of course some places have even more variations.