How To Make A Ramos Gin Fizz

Most of the earliest cocktails are simple and straightforward. The Old Fashioned, for example, is really just sugar, bourbon, and bitters. But the Ramos Gin Fizz breaks that mold. This cocktail was invented in New Orleans by a bartender named Henry C. Ramos, and it’s been around since the 19th century. It’s significantly more convoluted than an Old Fashioned, but it isn’t especially challenging to make. You just have to shake a lot - because this drink should both look and taste like an orange-scented cloud that made its home in a highball glass.

Ramos Gin Fizz

You’ll Need:

• Ice

• Highball

• 2 ounces gin

• .5 ounce lemon juice

• .5 ounce lime juice

• 1 ounce simple syrup

• 3 dashes orange flower water

• .25 ounce heavy cream

• 1 egg white

• Club soda

Step One: Glassware Prep

Before you start making this cocktail, put the glass you’re going to use (preferably a highball) into your freezer. That way, it’ll get cold and frosty, and you’ll be able to enjoy your cocktail without worrying about its temperature.

Step Two: Egg White

A Ramos Gin Fizz isn’t a Ramos Gin Fizz without an egg white. It’s what gives this drink it’s fluffy, meringue-like texture - and, if you want to play it safe, you can use pasteurized eggs or a carton of pasteurized egg whites. Add one raw egg white (or 1 ounce egg whites from a carton) to your cocktail shaker.

Step Three: Lemon Juice

As always, fresh juice is immensely preferable. So find a lemon, and juice it. Add .5 ounce lemon juice to your shaker.

Step Four: Lime Juice

Next, do the same with a lime. Add .5 ounce lime juice to your shaker.

Step Five: Simple Syrup

Wherever you use lemon or lime juice, you’ll typically use some simple syrup as well. If you don’t know how to make it, mix equal parts warm water and white sugar, then stir until the sugar is dissolved. It’s that easy. Put 1 ounce simple syrup in your shaker.

Step Six: Orange Flower Water

If you’ve never used orange flower water before, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It’s a clear, fragrant, non-alcoholic liquid flavored with orange blossoms, and it’s about as potent as a bottle of perfume. Add 3 drops to your shaker.

Step Seven: Gin

You don’t need to get a special gin for this. Just find something you like, and pour 2 ounces in your shaker.

Step Eight: Dry Shake

This drink needs to be fluffy. But how do we achieve that? With a dry shake. A dry shake is when you shake something without ice, and it’s especially useful for mixing and aerating cocktails with egg whites. So put the top on your shaker, and give your cocktail a dry shake for 20 seconds. (To get your cocktail extra fluffy, detach the spring from your Hawthorne strainer, and throw it in your shaker. It’ll act just like a whisk.)

Step Nine: Heavy Cream & Ice

After your dry shake, pour .25 ounce heavy cream into your shaker, and add 4 or 5 ice cubes as well. Shake until the ice sounds like it’s been turned into pebbles (around 40 seconds), then strain your cocktail into your pre-chilled highball.

Step Ten: Club Soda

Finally, top with club soda. It should be around 2 ounces, depending on how much room you have in your glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel or lemon twist, then stand back and admire this tall, fluffy beverage that looks like a cross between a cloud and milkshake.