Henry C. Ramos, New Orleans, 1888.
| 2 oz · 60 ml | GIN | 40 % |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | LEMON JUICE | |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | LIME JUICE | |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | SIMPLE SYRUP | |
| 1 oz · 30 ml | HEAVY CREAM | |
| 1 splash | EGG WHITE | |
| 3 dashes | ORANGE FLOWER WATER | |
| 2 oz · 60 ml | SODA WATER |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 4.84 oz mixed with ice, 0.8 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Shaken: +20 % of the pre-batch, +0.97 oz of water |
| Topped | Poured after the melt, kept whole: soda water 2 oz, no alcohol |
| Served | 4.84 + 0.97 + 2 = 7.81 oz in the glass, 0.8 oz of it alcohol |
| Strength | 0.8 ÷ 7.81 = 10.2 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.8 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 19 g · about 131 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM GIN
The pine note in juniper berries, and the reason gin tastes like a forest. Co-distilled with the spirit during production. Found in actual pine trees, rosemary, basil, and a good London Dry. The "Christmas tree" smell of gin and the smell of a forest floor share a single molecule.
ALSO IN Negroni · Martini · Gimlet · Gin & Tonic · Aviation · Corpse Reviver #2 · French 75 · Bramble
FROM LEMON + LIME · the lemon aroma
Lemon's defining note: technically a mix of two geometric isomers (geranial and neral) that read as the same aroma to the nose. Lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon verbena, and Indian chai all carry it. In cocktails it's what a lemon twist contributes that lemon juice can't: the volatile expressed from the oil glands, not the acid from the pulp.
ALSO IN Margarita · Mojito · Daiquiri · Whiskey Sour · Gimlet · Moscow Mule · Paper Plane · Aviation
FROM ORANGE FLOWER WATER · the grape candy note
The grape-candy / Welch's-grape-juice aroma. Concord grapes carry it in concentrations no European wine grape (Vitis vinifera) approaches; American Vitis labrusca grapes, native to the northeastern US, hold methyl anthranilate as a signature. The "foxy" note in North American grape juice and artificial grape candy both come from the same molecule. Also used as the standard bird repellent on commercial fruit crops; birds find it intolerable.
ALSO IN Hurricane · Singapore Sling · Mary Pickford · Royal Hawaiian · Bahama Mama · Paloma · Tequila Sunrise · Picante
Gin, two citrus juices, cream, egg white, orange flower water and soda. It is the longest-shaken cocktail in the standard repertoire, with four minutes or more as the minimum. Orange flower water's methyl anthranilate triggers the 'grandmother's perfume' response. Citral comes from lemon and lime and alpha-pinene from gin, while egg white proteins set the stiff foam and cream adds body.
Henry C. Ramos opened the Imperial Cabinet Saloon in New Orleans in 1888 and made his Gin Fizz famous by employing a relay of bartenders ('shaker boys') to shake each drink, reportedly for twelve minutes. The 1915 Mardi Gras reportedly saw thirty-five shaker boys working the bar simultaneously. Ramos served his last fizz when Prohibition arrived in 1919 and never reopened; the Roosevelt Hotel trademarked the name in 1935. Modern dry-shake technique compresses twelve minutes into about four, still longer than any other cocktail.
