Eggs are our ingredient of the season. That link will take you to our archive of egg posts.
As soon as we picked eggs as our ingredient of the season, I knew that I wanted to try out a few cocktails that include egg whites. These are recipes that I’ve seen all over the web, on fancy bar menus, and well-curated Instagram photos, but, there was no way that I could bring myself to taste one. Until now.
Why add egg whites?
Guys, this is SO GOOD. If you need a bit more convincing, it might help to learn about why you’d add an egg to a cocktail.
Using egg whites is done for a textural effect. The egg whites are almost all water and protein that is odorless and tasteless. When shaken or blended thoroughly, the proteins in the egg white form a foam (just like when you whisk it to form stiff peaks for a meringue). This foam gives your cocktail a fantastic creamy texture with a beautiful foamy top.
Cocktails containing egg whites also include an acid and sugar. The acid is often in the form of a citrus juice and helps to strengthen the protein structure of the bubbles in the foam. The sugar is in the simple syrup, and this helps to thicken the water in the egg whites, further enhancing the thick foamy effect.
Give it Two Shakes
When making a cocktail with egg whites, you’ll see that the instructions are slightly different than a typical shaken cocktail. With egg whites, there will always be two shakes.
The first shake is a “dry shake”. You put the base ingredients + the egg white in the shaker and shake vigorously to produce that nice smooth foam. This may take up to a minute or more depending upon how vigorously you shake. You want to create a good foam, and anything less is just… slimy egg whites. Because the idea of slimy egg whites makes me squirm, I do that first shake in a blender.
Then, for the second shake you’ll add the ice and shaker, and shake for a few seconds to cool everything down and add a touch of water as the ice melts slightly.
Lavender Lemon Gin (Fizz)
Traditionally, a gin fizz contains gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, ice, and carbonated water. The addition of an egg white creates something called a “silver fizz”, but I often see gin fizz recipes with egg white, and maybe that’s the new normal?
The reason I put the fizz in parentheses is because I often skip the carbonated water.The fizz that gives the fizz fizz. What the fizz?
In its place, I use a bit more simple syrup and lemon juice than other recipes. Sometimes, once I’ve drunk a little bit of the cocktail without the carbonated water, then I’ll top it off with the water to make the deliciousness last longer.
Ingredients
- 2 oz gin
- 2 oz lavender infused simple syrup (recipe below)
- 2 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1 egg white
- ice
- carbonated water (optional)
How-to
- Place the gin, simple syrup, lemon juice, and egg white in a blender. Blend on high for a quick 15-30 seconds. You’ll see a nice foam develop, and you’ll know that the white is whipped the right amount.
- Shake the blended ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.
- Strain and pour over ice into an old fashion glass, garnish with a few sprigs of lavender, and enjoy!
Lavender Simple Syrup
- Place 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a pot. Bring to a low simmer, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Take the syrup off the heat, add 2 Tbsp dried lavender flowers, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Strain the syrup and let cool before using.
