Why Cocktails With Egg Whites Are Super Delicious

Egg whites - we’ll admit that you might be forgiven for hesitating. But by the end of this article we think we’ll have convinced you they’re delicious in cocktails. Egg white cocktails are stand-out flavour makers.

Why use egg whites in cocktails

So many reasons!

Smoother & Softer Flavours

First - taste. Egg whites give a silky, rich texture to a drink and also serve to smooth out intense flavours, such as citrus. They help to round out the more aggressive notes to give a subtler, softer blend of tastes.

A Blank Canvas

Second - style. Adding egg white to a cocktail changes the canvas. Now you can stencil the top of your cocktail, float flower petals or powdered ginger, raspberry or gold flakes on it.

You can also add bitters or coloured liqueurs like Chambord, Blue Curacao or Green Chartreuse on top. You can then run a toothpick through to create a stunning pattern.

How to mix an egg white cocktail

Egg white cocktails are unlike the standard system of shaking cocktail ingredients together with ice. In an egg white cocktail the ingredients are combined without ice. This is called a dry shake and is performed with a cocktail shaker. We do this so the egg white can emulsify and froth, then the ice is added.

One thing to bear in mind is that raw egg whites can offer a tiny risk of food poisoning.Although people in good health are at very little risk.

If you’re in any doubt, you can buy pasteurised eggs, which are safer because pasteurisation kills bacteria like salmonella. However, if you choose pasteurised, up your egg white quota by 50% because they don’t foam up as much. Also you can substitute vegan alternatives like aquafaba to get the same effect.

And these aren’t sippers. An egg white cocktail needs to be drunk pretty quickly so the foam doesn’t flop. But once you’ve tasted how good they are, you won’t want to hang around!

10 of the best egg white cocktails

1 GIN SOUR COCKTAIL

All the sours tend to contain egg white, but the gin sour is the classic. It combines simple ingredients to create a sophisticated taste by bringing together various ingredients. These include gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and an egg white or aquafaba before vigorously shaking together. Then add ice and shake again. Finally, strain into a coupe glass and decorate the foamy top with a curving line of Angostura bitters.

2 NEW YORK SOUR

It sounds the same as gin sours, but it couldn’t be more different. In this version of the whisky sour, whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup/maple syrup are added. As well as Angostura bitters and egg white are dry shaken together, before ice is added and re-shaken. Then this mixture is strained over ice into a rocks glass.

A gentle red wine pour is added to create a layer of red over the orange base. The egg white foam will rise to the top and create a stunning three layer drink.

3 THE CLOVER CLUB COCKTAIL

This cocktail was created at the behest of a group of powerful businessmen. The group met at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia in the late 1800s to early 1900s. They called themselves The Clover Club.

It blends gin, lemon and egg white, just like a gin sour. However, it adds raspberry syrup to create a blend of sharp and silky, rich and easy to swallow This makes it the perfect aperitif or hair of the dog.

Interesting to note, this proudly pink cocktail fell out of favour because of its colour. But, at the turn of the century, pink was seen as a ‘power’ colour. Famously, Jay Gatsby sports a pink suit in the Great Gatsby.

4 GIN FIZZ

Is a fizz just a sour with a twist …? No, that’s too simple.

However, the fizz starts like a sour, with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white dry shaken together. Ice is added, and the mixture is poured into tall glasses - so far, so sour. Then, each cocktail glass is topped up with soda water.

In an alchemical reaction, the egg white rises to make a frothy, foamy topping.The whole drink changes its nature, developing a longer, lighter, ethereal flavour that will make your tastebuds happy.

5 FLOWER POWER

This one’s a show stopper! Based on a classic sour, it brings together white rum, lemon juice, pineapple juice and simple syrup. As well as a couple of dashes of red bitters with an egg white. Dry shake, add ice, re-shake. Strain out into a coupe glass.

It’s already a vision of prettiness, but to amp it up, you can add another delicate squirt of red bitters after pouring out, and the bitters will form a glowing red layer just under the white foam top.

6 SARATOGA FIZZ

We’re back to the fizz for the second time, this one offering an alternative flavour, both deeper and warmer in the base notes but also tangier and more vibrant in the citrus elements. Dry shake together an egg white, fresh lemon juice, fresh lime juice, simple syrup and bourbon. Add ice and shake until well chilled, strain into a rocks glass and top with club soda.

7 THE MILLION DOLLAR

This delicious egg white confection, mentioned in a short story by Somerset Maugham, has vague origins, credited both to Louise Eppinger at the Grand Hotel, Yokohama and Ngiam Tong Boon at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Either way, it has a wonderfully vibrant colour, fruity flavour and turns up in anime all the time! Dry shake gin, sweet vermouth, pineapple juice, grenadine and egg white. Re-shake with ice, strain into a glass and garnish with a pineapple wedge.

8 CITRUS FIZZ

Yes, our third fizz, but this one is non-alcoholic! It combines orange, lemon, and lime juices with a touch of grenadine, dry shaken with egg white to produce a foamy blend which is then topped off with soda water or just sparkling water, for a tasty but healthy alternative to classic cocktails. Again, using aquafaba makes this both alcohol-free and vegan.

9 PORT FLIP

Now this is a cocktail that you don’t see as often as you should! Combine brandy, ruby port, simple syrup and add an egg white and dry shake. Strain into a chilled glass without adding ice and top with a grating of fresh nutmeg. This richly flavoured cocktail has a lush dessert-style flavour that is magnificently decadent.

10 BOXCAR

The Boxcar is an amazing cocktail - it can be made with gin, bourbon or even tequila, but we believe the gin version is the OG, so that’s what we’re going with. Combine gin, Triple sec, lemon juice, grenadine and egg white and dry shake, then add ice and shake again, before straining into a sour glass.