SECOND ONLY TO THE SAZERAC AS NEW ORLEANS’S most famous and unusual cocktail, the Ramos gin fizz
was created by a bar owner named Henry C. Ramos in the late nineteenth century and eventually became a trademark drink at the city’s famous Roosevelt Hotel Bar. Religiously made with gin (never vodka, blessedly), some form of cream, lemon juice, orange flower water, and egg whites, the Ramos gin fizz is a suave, relatively tame drink traditionally sipped in New Orleans before a genteel sit-down lunch—preferably in a shaded garden or on an elegant patio. Personally, I can’t imagine drinking a Ramos in a bar. Experts do agree that the cocktail needs a rigorous, lengthy shaking to achieve the perfect texture.
Makes 4 drinks
INGREDIENTS
- 6 ounces gin
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 4 large pasteurized egg whites (Davidson’s brand, available in many specialty food shops and some supermarkets)
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 4 teaspoons superfine sugar
- 4 teaspoons orange flower water (available in specialty food shops)
- Crushed ice
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large cocktail shaker, combine all the ingredients.
- Add plenty of crushed ice to the shaker.
- Shake the mixture very well.
- Strain the cocktail into highball glasses.
