Using Eggs in Cocktails

Being involved in the craft cocktail movement and knowing a few things about mixology there's been some question about the use of eggs or egg whites in cocktails from the last few centuries as well as present day drinks.

Eggs have been an integral ingredient in cocktails for at least the last two hundred years.  They add a silky frothiness, and body that a cocktail wouldn’t have otherwise.  The reason the egg was removed from many cocktails in the last few decades was from some bad publicity.  At some point in time it was stated that “eating raw eggs could lead to serious illness from salmonella.”

The FDA states that only 1 in 20,000 eggs has the salmonella bacteria. Nowhere does the National Safety Council's data state that raw eggs are a common risk; however, death from choking on food is rated at 1 in 5000 odds.  The odds of getting salmonella from an egg are extremely remote and you have a better chance of dying from accidental drowning (1 in 1,000), a storm related accident (1 in 3,000) or slipping (1 in 6,500).

Some drinks that include egg or egg whites are the following:  The Los Angeles cocktail, Tom and Jerry, whiskey sour, pisco sour and my own Angels Flight.  Try a few of these and you'll be a hit at your upcoming parties for the holidays.

Cheers & God bless,

John Apodaca

john@daddyosmartinis.com 

The Egg Sour

This is John from Daddyo's Martinis. Last week I had the privilege of featuring some seasonal cocktails on the internet based radio show Martini in the Morning. One of the drinks, the Egg Sour Cocktail that I found in Jerry Thomas 1862 Bartenders Guide also in the Official Mixers Manual from 1956. The host of the show ( Brad Chambers ) and staff had the opportunity to taste it and it was a hit for them and for you and your friends at your next gathering.
The only difference between the two recipes is the amount of lemon juice. The 1862 version has 3 dashes of lemon juice while the one from 1956 is juice of 1/2 a lemon. Drinks in the 19th century tended to be sweeter hence less juice.

The Egg Sour 


1 1/2 oz Brandy ( E & J VSOP )
1 1/2 oz Orange Curacao
Juice of half a lemon ( about 1 oz )
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
1 egg

Shake well with ice to emulsify the egg and strain in to a chilled Delmonico glass.

For additional recipes or questions, you can visit my website www.daddyosmartinis.com