ramos gin fizz

greatest drink ever? arguably yes. let me tell you why. first off, if you're feeling a little bit tired but you want something to kind of give you a kick, this is phenomenal. secondly, this attribute makes the drink an amazing beverage before or after noon. let's say you wake up and you've just had a rough night where you've stayed out until 4am with friends and now wish you had died, but since you're alive need something to make you feel better: this is the drink for you. alternatively, you've been out and it's pushing 1am and you're soooo tired but you want to keep going without being the guy who's drinking vodka redbulls like it's going out of style: again, this is the drink for you.

the one problem with said drink is the amount of shaking required. if you want a bartender to hate you, this is the best drink to order. if they are busy, they will most likely spit in the cup as they add the ingredients because the shaking required is intense. there are supposedly stories of the bartenders lining up bar backs and cocktail waitresses to shake one of these up and i've actually ordered one, been giving the shaker, shaken myself and then passed the shaker down the bar to be shaken by other patrons who made the mistake of sitting at the bar next to me. it really is quite the drink though and arguably my favorite cocktail of all time. appropriate in the northern hemisphere for this time of year, when the summer requires something cooler, yet frothy and refreshing without just being beer. imbibe of this and you will never want to go back to boring ice cream laden milk shakes because this is arguably the alcoholic version.

and now, without further rambling, the ramos gin fizz:

1/2 lemon

1/2 lime

1 1/4 simple syrup

1 cream

5 drops orange flower water (you can use less than this but this seems like a good measure)

2 beefeater gin

1 egg white

pre-shake without ice, shake with ice, shake some more with ice, shake more if you think you've shaken enough, when your arms stop working, strain into a collins glass with 1 ice cube max, (the one ice cube is a great idea,) top with soda water.

and for all you fancy pants out there, if you let the drink sit for a minute after being strained, the whites will set and when you add the soda water, a creamy head will peak out of the glass. it's so great. you seriously need to try this. but if you decide to make one at home, i'd recommend picking up a paint shaker while you're out acquiring all of the other required ingredients.

enjoy.