Ramos Gin Fizz

Most classic specs carry two or three drops, and it's the single addition that makes this smell like a Ramos rather than a creamy fizz. Go carefully. Orange flower water is potent and a heavy hand turns the whole glass soapy, which is not something you can shake back out.

It was real in 1900, when bars had staff to spare and nobody had run the experiment. A minute without ice to build the emulsion, then a minute with ice, gets the same head. What matters is that the fat and the protein have time to bind, not that your arms hurt.

Acid sitting on cream is what does it. Combine and shake at once rather than letting the tin stand while you go looking for the soda. If you want insurance, shake the gin, syrup, cream and egg white together first, then add the citrus and shake again. Fresh cream matters here more than anywhere.

Strain into a chilled glass with no ice, then wait. Give it thirty to sixty seconds for the foam to set into something with structure. Then pour the soda straight down the middle, slowly, and it pushes a column of foam up past the rim. Rushing that last pour is how it collapses.

It works and gives you a thinner, less luxurious drink. Milk doesn't, really. Fat is what carries the foam and keeps it standing, and at four percent there isn't enough of it. Around 35 percent is what the whole texture is built on.

A classic Ramos Gin Fizz calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Gin, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Fresh lime juice, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Simple syrup, 30 ml (1 oz) Heavy cream, 1 egg white Egg white, 3 dashes orange flower water Orange flower water, 30 ml (1 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 Ramos Gin Fizz is roughly 12% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it about as strong as a glass of wine.