Ramos Gin Fizz

The Ramos Gin Fizz has a cool name. Hailing from New Orleans, it uses egg white and orange flower water to transform the gin into a refreshing, velvety foam of a drink. It's not necessarily simple to make, but it's worth it. You're worth it.

45ml (1.5oz) gin
15ml (0.5oz) fresh lemon juice
15ml (0.5oz) fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp cream
1 egg white*
1 Tbsp icing/caster sugar
Few drops of orange flower water
Soda water

* To save the hassle of constantly half-using fresh eggs I recently procured a tub of powdered egg whites, which have to be prepared by whisking for a few seconds with a little warm water. They seem to work fine, although if I was making this drink for a few people I'd use the real thing.

Pour all the ingredients except the soda water into cocktail shaker without ice. Shake well to emulsify. Add ice and shake again, vigorously, for longer than seems appropriate. Strain into a high ball glass with ice and top up with soda water.

This drink is smooth, light and refreshing. You almost forget you're consuming gin at all. Gin Air, more like. Careful you don't overdo the citrus, as I almost did.

Regular readers, assuming such creatures exist, might recall my amazement on trying a variation of the Ramos Gin Fizz at 69 Colebrooke Row. This is nothing like the same recipe, since I suspect Colebrooke Row uses some kind of molecular alchemy to get its Fizz so incredibly airy and light. But it's a start.

FACT! When the Ramos Gin Fizz was at its peak of pre-prohibition popularity the New Orleans bar where it was invented employed "shaker boys" to make the drinks during busy periods. Like a Polaroid picture.

LOOK! Click here to watch cocktail expert Robert Hess make a Ramos Gin Fizz like only he can (brilliantly and very slowly).