To the unfamiliar, the idea of adding egg whites to cocktails can seem a bit strange, perhaps even off-putting. However, those who've had the pleasure of experiencing a well-made cocktail with egg white in the recipe know just how effective the unusual ingredient can be.
I've got over a decade of cocktail bartending experience under my belt, but when I first started out, I can remember wondering why anyone would want an egg white in their drink. I soon realized that it had nothing to do with flavor but was all about creating an incredible texture. Egg whites are emulsifiers, meaning they can help bind together liquids that don't normally mix well. When making a cocktail with a range of different ingredients, egg white can help create a uniform texture. Additionally, egg whites contain proteins that unwind when shaken and form an elasticated network that traps air. The more we shake, the more air becomes trapped in the stabilized cocktail mixture, resulting in a deliciously frothy, airy mouthfeel. The process also creates a foamy head on the cocktail that helps contain and concentrate the aromas, making for a more pleasurable drinking experience. That said, after years of shaking up egg white cocktails, like the classic whiskey sour, I've learned that it's quite easy to make missteps to the detriment of your drink. Below, I'm going to cover the key mistakes I've made and learned from over the years to save your time, ingredients, and cocktails.
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One of the most common concerns people have about adding raw egg whites to cocktails is that uncooked eggs are a common cause of salmonella. A salmonella infection can be a serious affair. Although there's no guarantee an infection will result in symptoms, when it does, it can lead to illness that's not unlike severe stomach flu. In rare cases, an infection can even be life-threatening. Fortunately, there's an easy way to avoid the potential health risks of consuming raw eggs.
Pasteurization is a food-preservation method that's been around for centuries, although it wasn't scientifically proven until the 1860s. It involves gently heating a food product to deactivate or eliminate any harmful microorganisms. Pasteurization is often a legal requirement for high-risk products like milk. While the USDA states that all egg products sold outside of their shell must be pasteurized, the rules are more relaxed around in-shell eggs. Less than 3% of in-shell eggs sold in the United States are pasteurized. This means that if you're using regular eggs for cocktails, you should always make sure they've been pasteurized first. Even when using heat-treated eggs, you'll want to stick to the freshest eggs possible. Regardless of whether they've been pasteurized, stale eggs will produce a less-stable foam and may still impart unpleasant off-flavors into your cocktail.
As someone who's worked in bars around the world, I always found it interesting to see that some people store their eggs in the fridge and others don't. It turns out there's a pretty good reason for this. In some countries, like the United States, eggs are washed before sale to remove bacteria from the shell. The downside is that washing eggs removes a protective layer from the shell that helps keep out microorganisms, so they have to be kept cold before use. Eggs that aren't washed don't last as long, but they don't need to be refrigerated.
From a cocktail perspective, it doesn't matter whether your eggs are the kind that needs to be kept cold or not, but the same principle applies as if you were baking. If you do store your eggs in the refrigerator, it's important to take them out and let them reach room temperature before using them in a cocktail. Cold egg whites are more viscous than warm ones, and their protein structure is less flexible. This means that when you shake them in a cocktail, it's harder for the proteins to unwind and trap enough air. By comparison, using eggs that have been given 30 minutes to warm up will result in a much frothier and more stable mixture.
Arguably, the most important factor in making any cocktail is balance. It's one of the first things I was taught as a rookie bartender, and it's the first lesson I cover when I'm training new mixologists. Simply put, all cocktails must reach a flavor equilibrium where aspects such as sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and booziness harmonize to create a palatable -- and hopefully delicious -- drink.
Although egg white has a relatively neutral taste, it can still taste a bit "eggy" if your other ingredients aren't bold enough to mask it. It's one of the reasons the most common type of cocktail to use egg whites is sours. These typically feature a robust base spirit, such as pisco or whiskey, a sweetening ingredient like a liqueur or simple syrup, and a healthy quantity of fresh citrus juice. Aside from adding a bright tartness, citrus is also great for egg white cocktails because the acidity helps denature the proteins in the egg, leading to better emulsification and a foamier texture. If you're struggling to achieve balance in your cocktail, it's also worth experimenting with bitters from a well-regarded brand. The right bitters can lift your cocktail by introducing an interesting new flavor element that masks the egg white flavor or helps bind your ingredients together, creating a drink that's more than the sum of its parts.
In my experience, it's pretty common for bartenders to assume the egg white from a single egg is the right quantity for any cocktail. While this is sometimes accurate enough, it's not always the case because eggs come in different sizes. I can sympathize with this approach, especially if you're working at a busy bar and don't have egg whites prepared beforehand. However, the truth is that this method means you're likely using too much egg white.
As I mentioned above, crafting the perfect cocktail is all about balance. If we meticulously measure our other ingredients, we should be giving the same level of care and attention to the amount of egg we're using. Besides the risk of giving your cocktail too much of an eggy flavor that may not be masked well enough by the drink's other components, too much egg white can lead to a texture that's too thick and viscous. The point, after all, is to create a mouthfeel that's smooth, velvety, and airy. Ideally, you want to aim for about ½ ounce of egg white per cocktail. This is about the amount you'll get from one small egg or half a medium one, so using larger eggs means you're probably overdoing it. For the most precise measurements, you're better off preparing your egg whites in advance, but we'll cover that in more detail a bit later.
Most cocktails are relatively benign when it comes to containing ingredients that a drinker may want to avoid. However, cocktails that contain egg whites aren't quite as straightforward. First, some people are allergic to eggs, so serving them a cocktail with egg whites in it could be life-threatening. Second, many people follow plant-based diets these days. This means they don't want to consume animal-derived foods, including eggs. If you're making an egg-white cocktail for someone else, it's crucial that you check with them first that they're okay with it.
The good news is that there are plenty of suitable substitutes for egg whites that will essentially do the same job. My go-to egg-white alternative for cocktails is aquafaba, which is the brine used in canned chickpeas. Its chemical makeup is similar to egg white, so it contains the proteins necessary to create a robust, frothy texture for your cocktail. You roughly want to use 1 ounce of aquafaba per egg white that you're swapping out. Some fruits, like pineapple or passion fruit, also have protein-rich juices that can create a suitable foam. However, these will also alter the flavor of your cocktail, so they won't work in every recipe. You can also try xanthan gum, a popular food additive that's used as a thickening agent and emulsifier. Ultimately, it's worth experimenting with a few different options to find out which works best for you.
Although it might not be apparent to the untrained eye, most professional bartenders add their cocktail ingredients to a shaker or glass in a specific order. Typically, you want to start with your cheapest components first. This way, if you make a mistake and have to start over, you're reducing the cost of the ingredients that have gone to waste.
As ingredient costs go, eggs are usually at the cheaper end of the scale, at least compared to premium liquor. However, egg white cocktails are an exception to the rule, and you're better off adding the egg last. When adding egg white to an acidic ingredient, like citrus juice, or a boozy ingredient, like spirits, the proteins start to denature. This can be handy when we're shaking the cocktail, but we don't want the process to start too early, or it will "cook" the egg. The result won't be the same as if you'd used a frying pan, but you run the risk of getting slightly cooked lumps in the final drink and a more prominent eggy aroma. Luckily, you can easily avoid this by adding your egg white after all your other ingredients.
Separating an egg white from the yolk without tools is relatively straightforward. Simply crack the egg in two, making sure the yolk remains safely in one half of the shell. Carefully transfer the yolk back and forth between both halves, and the egg white will gradually separate and drip down below. However, one of the earliest mistakes I made using egg whites in cocktails was attempting this technique over my shaker.
Even with years of practice, it's easy to mess up when separating an egg by hand. A slip of the hand can mean the egg yolk falls into the shaker, or the yolk might break and mix in with the whites. Occasionally, the yolk may already be broken before you crack the egg, and while that's not your fault, it doesn't matter when the mixture has already ruined your cocktail. There's also the chance a few stray pieces of shell might make their way into the shaker, and you have to strain everything before you can finish making your drink. To this day, I always separate my whites over a rocks glass and tip them in at the end. You can use a larger piece of eggshell to remove any small stragglers. Plus, if you mess up with the yolk, you've only wasted an egg instead of a whole cocktail's worth of ingredients.
When trying to create the frothiest, airiest texture in a cocktail using egg whites, the secret is in the shaking. The harder and longer you shake, the more you'll denature the proteins to create a stable foam structure, and the more air you'll incorporate into the mixture. It'll also promote the egg white's emulsifying properties which helps combine your ingredients for a more uniform texture.
However, relying on the standard shaking technique presents us with a slight problem. The reason we shake cocktails, aside from mixing the ingredients together, is to chill and dilute them with ice. If we shake too long and hard, we can over-dilute the cocktail and end up with ice chips in our drink. This is why pro bartenders employ a technique called "dry-shaking." Dry-shaking means shaking the cocktail without ice first to make sure we get the most out of the egg white before adding the ice for the final shake. There's another technique called "reverse dry-shaking," where you shake with ice but without the egg white first, strain out the ice, add the egg white, and shake again. Either of these methods will lead to a much better texture than a single shake. Although every bartender has their own preference, personally, I've found the reverse dry-shake produces superior results.
Unless we're building a cocktail directly in the glass, we need to strain our liquid. However, while some drinks only need to be strained once, some call for the double-strain method. We double-strain cocktails when we want our drink's texture to be as smooth as possible, free from things like ice chips or residual herbs and fruit.
You should always double-strain egg white cocktails. The whole point of adding egg white is to create an extra velvety mouthfeel, so we definitely want to filter out anything that might get in the way of that. It's also a handy way to make sure you've removed any pieces of shell that might have snuck past you or any bits of egg white that may have solidified. Double-straining isn't particularly difficult, especially if you've mastered using a Hawthorne strainer. With one hand, position a fine mesh strainer over your cocktail glass. With the other hand, you'll need to use a Hawthorne strainer to carefully pour the liquid from the shaker, through the second strainer, and into the glass. To make things easier, you can control the flow speed with a Hawthorne strainer and position both strainers as close as possible to each other. Straining drinks from a height may look snazzy but it can be a messy affair if you've not had enough practice.
Whether you're dealing with beer, wine, or cocktails, there's almost always a specific style of glass that's more suitable than others. Navigating the many different types of glasses can be a little daunting at first, but it's actually fairly straightforward.
The trick to choosing the right glassware is knowing the impact that it has on the drinking experience. For example, stemmed glasses stop a drink from getting too warm from your hands, which is why we use them for cocktails served without ice to keep them cold. For carbonated drinks, we typically use long, tall glasses to prevent the bubbles from escaping too quickly. One of the most common factors behind glass choice is the drink's aroma. A wide-brimmed glass is ideal for egg white cocktails because they offer a larger surface area for you to enjoy their bold aromas. They also allow you to take larger mouthfuls of the cocktail, so the frothy, creamy texture can better envelop your palate. With that in mind, there are two types of glassware I suggest using for egg white cocktails. If you're serving your drink over ice, use a double rocks glass. For cocktails served straight up, a coupe glass is perfect, but a martini glass will do in a pinch.
If you're only making a small quantity of egg white cocktails or they're not something you make very often, there's nothing wrong with cracking your eggs as you go. If you're working at a busy bar or making a large number of cocktails for a party, I strongly suggest prepping your egg whites ahead of time.
Separating egg whites to order takes time, which adds up when you're making lots of drinks. It's also a bit fiddly, so if you're under a time crunch, it's increasingly likely that you'll make a mistake that costs even more precious seconds. Prepping egg whites in advance is also time-consuming but it's worth it in the long run and you can use an egg separator to speed things up. I usually separate each egg over a glass and then pour the whites into a large bowl or plastic container. If you separate each egg over the bowl, it presents the same risks as separating one over your cocktail shaker. When you've got enough egg whites, use a wide-mouthed funnel to decant them into a squeezy bottle. Now, you can just squeeze the egg white into a cocktail jigger to ensure you've got the right quantity and tip it into your shaker. The one thing to bear in mind is the width of the nozzle on your bottle. If it's too wide, the egg white will come out too fast; too narrow, and you'll struggle to squeeze out the viscous fluid.
Besides making drinks more visually appealing, garnishes play an important role in the sensory experience of consuming a cocktail. An effective garnish should enhance the flavor of your drink by contributing something to the taste, aroma, or both.
Earlier, I mentioned the importance of balancing egg white cocktails with bold ingredients, and a suitable garnish can help achieve this. It's particularly effective when you're using lighter ingredients and want to enhance the aroma without having to change your recipe. Fresh citrus peel is always a great option, as the fragrant oils will coat the surfaces of the glass and the liquid. If you find this too fiddly or time-consuming -- which it is -- you can always dehydrate citrus wheels instead. Herbs like rosemary are also useful garnishes, and you can even lightly torch the leaves for a rich, smoky aroma. The other garnish I use most for egg white cocktails is cocktail bitters. The white, foamy head of the drink is the perfect canvas to make a few drops of bitters pop. You can even make an elegant pattern in the foam by taking a cocktail stick and tracing it through each drop of bitters to create ornate swirls.