Gin Fizz

The shake already put roughly 20 ml of water into the drink, and a fizz is meant to be small and very cold rather than long and slow. Ice knocks the head down and keeps diluting. Chill the glass in the freezer instead and drink it inside ten minutes.

Shake harder and longer than feels reasonable, at least fifteen seconds, then pour the soda into the middle of the drink rather than down the side. The soda is what lifts the head. A bottle opened that minute gives you far more foam than one that's been in the fridge door a week.

Related, but not a shortcut. A Ramos adds egg white, cream and orange flower water, uses lemon and lime together, and needs several minutes of shaking to set that famous head. Adding cream to this recipe gets you a cloudy gin fizz, not a Ramos.

Up to a point. Combine gin, lemon and syrup in a bottle and keep it cold, then shake each portion to order and top with soda. Pre-mixed citrus starts tasting dull after about six hours, so mix it the same day you plan to pour it.

A classic Gin Fizz calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Gin, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Simple syrup, 60 ml (2 oz) Soda water. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard Gin Fizz is roughly 13% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it about as strong as a glass of wine.

A Gin Fizz is shaken — the rule of thumb is to shake anything with citrus juice. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.