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Try the refreshing gin fizz: it’s sweet, tangy, and has a frothy egg white foam topping. This classic cocktail is simple to make at home with our step-by-step guide on how to get tall and fluffy foam!
Ever had a gin fizz? To us, it’s one of the best uses of a bottle of gin around (really). This classic cocktail from the 1870’s is perfectly balanced, both sweet and tart with a pop of lemon and a botanical finish. Add to that a frothy egg white foam topping, which adds the best creamy texture to each sip.
Oh and it takes only 5 minutes to make! As two cocktail experts, this was one of the first cocktails we learned to make. We love tangy cocktails like margaritas and whiskey sours, so this tangy sweet fizzy drink is right up our alley. Ready to experience this iconic gin cocktail?
Gin fizz ingredients
The gin fizz is a classic cocktail made with gin, lemon, simple syrup and soda water. The first printed recipe for a gin fizz was in an 1876 cocktail book, and the drink rose to mass popularity starting in the 1900’s. It’s a textbook sour cocktail that includes citrus, liquor and sweetener. An egg white is the magic behind that classic frothy foam topping.
For the sweetener for a gin fizz, you can use either the standard simple syrup or maple syrup as a natural sweetener. We find maple syrup adds more interesting nuanced notes to the flavor (and we promise, it doesn’t taste like maple!). The gin fizz ingredients are:
- 2 oz gin
- ¾ oz lemon juice
- ½ oz simple syrup
- 1 egg white
- Soda water
Trick to an egg white foam: the dry shake
Why add an egg white? Bartenders have been adding egg whites to cocktails since the 1860’s for two reasons. They add a frothy texture the surface of the drink, and give each sip a creamy rich flavor, balancing out the astringent citrus.
In this gin fizz you’ll do what’s called a dry shake, which results in a lovely white layer of foam on top (you’ll do the same with other classic egg white cocktails like the Boston Sour or Pisco Sour). Here’s how it works:
- Shake the drink ingredients without ice first. This lets the protein in the egg begin to form foam, instead of being diluted by the ice.
- Add ice and shake again. This cools the drink and strengthens the foam. Strain it into the glass and you’ll get a thick, white frothy layer.
- A trick for increasing the foam in a gin fizz: Add a spring to the cocktail shaker; it helps to agitate the ingredients even more (this really works: we’ve tried it!).
Egg white substitute
Don’t want to use an egg in your drink? You can substitute aquafaba, the liquid in a can of chickpeas. Because it’s so starchy, it can work as a binder similar to an egg.
You can use 2 tablespoons of aquafaba in this gin fizz recipe as an equivalent to the actual egg white. It makes for the same type of foam! This Fee Brothers Cocktail Foamer is another popular alternative.
Best type of gin
For a gin fizz, don’t buy the cheapest gin you can find. Try to invest in a mid-price range gin: the drink will only taste as good as the gin you invest in! Here are a few notes on types we like:
- Malfy and Beefeater London Dry have a developed, botanical flavor that blends well in cocktails.
- Locally distilled gin is a great option! In Indianapolis, we like 8th Day Distillery, Hotel Tango, and Big Heart Gin.
- Steer clear of strong flavored sipping gins in cocktails. For us this includes brands like Tanqueray gin (very floral) and Opihr gin (spice-forward). These types of gin can overpower the subtlety in many mixed drinks.
There’s lots more you can do with gin, from classic Gin and Tonic to a Hanky Panky to a Gin Gimlet. See our best Gin Cocktails.
Tip for the soda water
You can buy soda water or club soda for a gin fizz, but you can also make it at home! To make soda water, we use our SodaStream (which we’re obsessed with!) We bought it to make healthy alternatives to soda, and we ended up falling in love with the refreshing bubbles.
Gin Fizz Cocktail
Try the refreshing gin fizz: it’s sweet, tangy, and has a frothy egg white foam topping. This classic cocktail is simple to make at home with our step-by-step guide on how to get tall and fluffy foam!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Shaken
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- ¾ ounce lemon juice
- ½ ounce simple syrup*
- 1 egg white**
- Garnish with lemon twist (optional)
- Soda water
Instructions
- Place the gin, lemon juice, syrup and egg white in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake for 30 seconds until cold.
- Strain the drink into a glass and top with the soda water; the egg white foam forms on top. If desired, garnish with a lemon twist. Serve immediately.
Notes
*Maple syrup is our favorite substitute for simple syrup in a cocktail; it adds subtle caramel notes without tasting like maple.
**For vegan, substitute 2 tablespoons aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas.
To convert to ounces, 1 ounce = 2 tablespoons
Gin fizz variations
There are a few famous variations on the gin fizz you absolutely must try if you love this recipe. Here are a few other famous drinks in the fizz family:
- The Ramos Gin Fizz was invented in New Orleans in the 1880’s and tastes like lemon meringue pie. It adds lime juice, heavy cream and orange blossom water to the classic formula.
- The Sloe Gin Fizz is a fruity spin on the classic! This drink swaps out the gin for sloe gin (which isn’t actually gin at all!).
- A Tom Collins has the same ingredients as a gin fizz, but skips the egg white topping.
- The Gin Sour has the same ingredients as a gin fizz, without the soda water.
- A Bee’s Knees has similar ingredients but uses honey syrup.
Delicious! I just discovered that I might like gin so made this with Bombay Sapphire. Really good. I made with simple syrup instead of maple. For my own taste, I might prefer a little more simple syrup but this drink is so refreshing and foamy and delicious! Definitely a keeper!! Question though . . . . would this taste different with another gin such as Tanqueray?
The taste changes with each gin, but not significantly!
Amazing recipe! Would advise when making your own simple syrup to infuze it with lemon zest for this recipe, makes it even better!
Just found you guys, tried the gin fizz recipe, my wife and I absolutely LOVED IT, and this is coming from a Chilean guy that loves making pisco sour. Thank you so much! Looking forward for some more recipes
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed.
I am going to make this for a cocktail challenge night. What is a good desert to serve with this?
It would be good with one of our crisps! https://www.acouplecooks.com/category/recipes/dessert-recipes/?_search_recipes=crisp
I just made this for fun because I happened to be making dinner with chickpeas. What a revelation, really easy to get a good foam and the taste was much lighter than with egg white. Will definitely be doing again.
Awesome!
Absolutely loved it. I used Golden Syrup instead of Maple Syrup and will definitely be making it again.
This is perfect! I had rhubarb syrup, so I used that instead of making more – my drink is the loveliest shade of blush pink
I love that idea!
This is delicious and now my go-to pandemic cocktail! Just add a smidge more syrup and lemon.. But that’s just me.
The foam was great. The substitution of maple syrup gave it a little maple flavor…which was unpleasant.
Thanks for this recipe! I’m historically terrified of eggwhite drinks and this one inspired me to give it a go. DEEELISH!!
So glad you enjoyed! Don’t you love the foam?!
Hahaha, same