Ramos Gin Fizz

Well, I’m in the Okanagan right now visiting family, so I’m going to phone this one in.

Also known as a New Orleans Fizz, this cocktail was invented by Henry C. Ramos at the Imperial Cabinet Saloon in New Orleans in 1888. The cocktail recipe was kept secret until Prohibition in the late 1920s, when the Ramos Brothers felt it was necessary to divulge the recipe in order to help America through the Noble Experiment. The trademark of the name of this cocktail belongs to the Fairmount Hotel in New Orleans, formerly known as the Roosevelt Hotel. Unfortunately, due to that nasty bitch Katrina, Fairmont has abandoned the hotel. When the Ramos brothers were in business, they used to have a platoon of barkeeps shaking as hard as they could in order to keep up with demand.

This is a drink that demands time. To be made properly, and not turn into a watery mess it must have egg white, it must have cream (not milk), and above all else, it must be shaken for at least two minutes, until the libation turns ropy. A shortcut around all of this shaking is to emulsify the mixture first with a high powered latte milk frother. Whizz the beverage with this for 30 seconds before adding ice and shaking.

This beverage is an exercise in luxury, with egg and cream creating a silky frothy texture and the orange blossom water, gin and citrus creating complex floral flavors.

RAMOS GIN FIZZ
2 oz gin
1 oz whipping cream
¾ oz lemon juice
3 dashes of orange-blossom water
dash of vanilla
dash of simple syrup
1 egg white

shake long and hard with ice and strain into a Collins glass
top with chilled soda.

Picture by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

~ by Jamie Boudreau on June 27, 2007.