The art of mixing the perfect Ramos Gin Fizz at home

Bartender Paul Gustings at Tujague’s, located along Decatur Street in New Orleans, gives a vigorous and long shake to give a Ramos Gin Fizz its creamy texture and frothy head.

I enjoy cooking and home bartending as a creative outlet. The dishes and drinks I favor — gumbos, cheesecakes, cocktails and the like — provide opportunities to play with different flavors and taste profiles. And they present a challenge in their successful execution.

Certainly, the Ramos Gin Fizz meets these criteria.

Key ingredients are: gin, lemon and lime juice, orange flower water, sugar, cream, soda and an egg white.

The drink features a slight citrus taste, and it is often said it is “like drinking a flower, ” as described in the book “Famous New Orleans Drinks & How to Mix ‘Em.”

And many say the key to a successful drink’s creamy texture is a long, longggggg shake.

Since first visiting New Orleans several years back, I’ve tried making the drink at home, with varying degrees of success.

Wherever you turn for advice, you’ll find that the ratio of ingredients varies slightly. And you’ll find the techniques for mixing and shaking vary, too.

With all the variations, these are my suggestions:

• Many recipes call for just a few drops of orange flower water, saying that it is a potent, pungent mixture. Well, in the sticks of Iowa, orange flower water is pretty weak, so I’ve had better luck using the higher amounts called for in some recipes (Sazerac Bar video below, 1 1/2 oz.). If I ever find a very strong mix, I’ll cut back to just a few drops.
• The amounts of fresh lemon and lime juices also vary. Some call for the juice of half a fruit, some call for a couple dashes of juice, some call for a 1/2 ounce of each juice. Fresh juices are best, of course, but they can overpower the drink. I use just a little less than the juice from a half a fruit.
• While the older recipes call for powdered sugar, most of the new recipes use simple syrup. Again, the amounts vary. But I have the best luck erring on the higher side — probably 1 oz. for one drink.
• Same goes for the heavy cream. I’ve seen everywhere from a 1/2 ounce to 2 ounces. I’d use closer to 1 1/2 to 2 oz.
• To get the tasty froth, the best tip I’ve seen is offered in the video from the Sazerac Bar: pour a bit of soda in the bottom of the serving glass, and use a high pour from the mixing shaker. Voila! Froth. In the video from the Library Lounge via Nola.com, the bartender tops the drink with soda and then stirs vigorously to develop the froth. That works, too.

Here’s the recipe from “Famous New Orleans Drinks:”

• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 3-4 drops orange flower water
• 1/2 lime — juice only
• 1/2 lemon — juice only
• 1 1/2 oz. dry gin
• 1 egg white
• 1 1/2 oz. rich milk or cream
• 1 squirt selzer water
• 2 drops extract vanilla (optional)

Mix in a tall barglass in the order given; add crushed ice, not too fine as lumps are needed to whip up the froth of the egg white and cream. Use a long metal shaker and remember this is one drink which needs a long, steady shaking. Keep at it until the mixture gets body — “ropy” as some experienced barkeepers express it. When thoroughly shaken, strain into a tall thin glass for serving.

Here’s the video (below) from the Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel, via GoNola.com. This is an excellent recipe:

Here’s the video (below) posted by Nola.com, featuring bartender Chris McMillian at the Library Lounge at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans.

And here’s a video (below) from Liquor.com — an excellent source for some tasty cocktail recipes — that was shot at Rye in San Francisco. Good video, but, jeesh, San Francisco for a Ramos Gin Fizz?

The stories behind the drink

The Ramos Gin Fizz, like the Sazerac and the Hurricane, is indelibly linked to New Orleans. And even more so than the other two, the Ramos has some colorful stories associated with it.

In the book “Famous New Orleans Drinks,” first published in 1937, author Stanley Clisby Arthur states that at that time, “The Age of the Ramos gin fizz is well past the half-century mark and its popularity shows no signs of abating.”

Arthur relates that the drink came to New Orleans in 1888 when Henry C. Ramos moved from Baton Rouge to purchase the Imperial Cabinet saloon.

At the height of the drink’s popularity, Ramos’ bar reportedly employed 35 shaker boys to meet the demand.

Of course, the drink, like all liquor, receded into the shadows during Prohibition. But Arthur writes, “After the return of legal liquor the trade name of Ramos on a gin fizz was acquired by the Hotel Roosevelt, and today that is it’s legal domicile.”

And from there springs another colorful story associated with the drink.

Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long, a frequent guest of the Roosevelt, particularly enjoyed the mix found at the hotel’s Sazerac Bar. But while staying at the New Yorker hotel, Long found the drink sadly lacking, despite that hotel’s claim to be the home of the Ramos Gin Fizz. Read this post to see the incredible lengths Long took to ” teach these New York sophisticates how and what to drink.”

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If you’re interested in New Orleans drinks or cocktails in general, “Famous New Orleans Drinks” is worth purchasing. In addition the Ramos Gin Fizz, it offers recipes for the Sazerac, Mint Julep (and many other juleps), Old Fashioned, Manhattan, punches and much more. Now in it’s 23rd printing, the book is available direct from Pelican Publishing, located across the river from New Orleans proper in Gretna.

If you enjoy cocktails, you should follow the “Cold Glass” blog by Doug Ford. It’s entertaining and informative. Here’s his take on the Ramos Fizz.

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Have you made your own Ramos Gin Fizz? Do you have any tips to offer? What’s your favorite bar for drinking the Ramos Gin Fizz? Leave a comment below.

A good day for a Sazerac

It’s a dreary, dank day in Iowa, so it seems like a perfect time for a good sipping drink: the Sazerac.

A while back, I reblogged a wonderful story on the Ramos Gin Fizz, a frothy treat that appeals to both gin lovers and gin abstainers alike. My post is here and the original Cold Glass blog is here. (If you enjoy a nice drink, I’d suggest following Cold Glass. You will learn a lot about a wide variety of cocktails.)

Like the gin fizz, the Sazerac is another NOLA staple. While in New Orleans in February 2013, we had to introduce friends to both of those drinks — as well as a few others. But since a couple of these friends enjoy ryes and whiskeys, I knew they would enjoy the Sazerac.

The YouTube video above gives some excellent history on cocktails and toddys — who knew there were specific qualities to each? — along with the history of the Sazerac itself. Nola.com has done a whole host of similar videos on New Orleans drinks, and they are a fun series to watch on a dreary day.

This post by another blogger is a lilting, literary tribute to the Sazerac. Here is the opening paragraph:

All too often, the alleyways of New Orleans’ French Quarter are abused by the young. The unseasoned collegiate Bacchae flood NOLA in search of the stuff to write the legends of their twenties. The rookie reaches for the Hurricane, or some other saccharine Slurpiesque booze bucket from any Bourbon Street slinger. And the locals are happy to oblige him. However, to really drink deeply of Nouvelle-Orleans, to let the taste of the Crescent City linger on in your palate (rather than displayed all over the pavement of Jackson Square at 2 A.M. ala Jackson Pollock, in beige) there is only one weapon of choice.

And finally, here are two more links on the Sazerac. Here’s a link for a simple recipe. And if you would like a bit more information on it, here’s the Wiki story.

As always: Bon temps rouler!