Gin Fizz Cocktail

Try the refreshing gin fizz: sweet and tangy with a frothy egg white foam topping. This classic cocktail is simple…

Jan 26, 2025 - 21:47

Try the refreshing gin fizz: sweet and tangy with a frothy egg white foam topping. This classic cocktail is simple to make at home with our step-by-step guide on how to get tall and fluffy foam!

Ever had a gin fizz? To us, it’s one of the best uses of a bottle of gin around (really). This classic cocktail is perfectly balanced, both sweet and tart with a pop of lemon and a botanical finish. Add to that a frothy egg white foam topping, which adds a creamy smoothness to each sip.

Even better, it takes only 5 minutes to shake up! As two cocktail experts, this was one of the first cocktails we learned to make. We love tangy cocktails like margaritas and whiskey sours, so this tangy sweet fizzy drink is right up our alley.

Gin fizz ingredients

The gin fizz is a classic cocktail made with gin, lemon, simple syrup and soda water. The first printed recipe was in an 1876 cocktail book, and the drink became very popular in the 1900’s. It’s a textbook sour cocktail that combines citrus, liquor and sweetener, with an optional frothy egg white foam topping. The gin fizz ingredients are:

2 oz gin
¾ oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
1 egg white
Soda water

How the egg white foam works

Bartenders have been adding egg whites to cocktails since the 1860’s: they add a frothy texture and give each sip a creamy rich flavor, balancing the sharpness of the citrus. For the gin fizz you’ll do what’s called a dry shake to make the frothy layer of foam (like with other classic egg white cocktails like the Boston Sour or Pisco Sour). Here’s how it works:

Shake the drink ingredients without ice first. This lets the protein in the egg begin to form foam, instead of being diluted by the ice.
Add ice and shake again. This cools the drink and strengthens the foam. Strain it into the glass and you’ll get a thick, white frothy layer.
A simple trick for increasing the foam in a gin fizz: Add a spring to the inside of the cocktail shaker! This helps to agitate the ingredients even more (this really works: we’ve tried it!).

Best type of gin

For a gin fizz, don’t buy the cheapest gin you can find. Try to invest in a mid-price range gin: the drink will only taste as good as the gin you invest in! Here are a few types we like:

Malfy and Beefeater London Dry have a developed, botanical flavor that blends well in cocktails.
Locally distilled gin is a great option. In Indianapolis, we like 8th Day Distillery, Hotel Tango, and Big Heart Gin.
Steer clear of strong flavored sipping gins. For us this includes brands like Tanqueray (very floral) and Opihr (spice-forward), which can overpower the subtlety in gin drinks.

There’s lots more you can do with gin, from classic Gin and Tonic to a Gin Gimlet. See our top Gin Cocktails.

Tip for the soda water

You can buy soda water or club soda for a gin fizz, but you can also make it at home! To make soda water, you can use a home carbonator (we use our SodaStream).

Gin Fizz Cocktail

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Try the refreshing gin fizz: it’s sweet, tangy, and has a frothy egg white foam topping. This classic cocktail is simple to make at home with our step-by-step guide on how to get tall and fluffy foam!

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 drink
Category: Drink
Method: Shaken
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

2 ounces gin
¾ ounce lemon juice
½ ounce simple syrup*
1 egg white**
Garnish with lemon twist (optional)
Soda water

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Instructions

Place the gin, lemon juice, syrup and egg white in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
Fill the shaker with ice and shake for 30 seconds until cold.
Strain the drink into a glass and top with the soda water; the egg white foam forms on top. If desired, garnish with a lemon twist. Serve immediately.

Notes

*Maple syrup is our favorite substitute for simple syrup in a cocktail; it adds subtle caramel notes without tasting like maple.

**For vegan, substitute 2 tablespoons aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas.

To convert to ounces, 1 ounce = 2 tablespoons

Egg white substitutes

If you prefer not using raw eggs in your cocktails, you can substitute aquafaba, the liquid in a can of chickpeas. It’s a starchy liquid that works perfectly as an egg white substitute.

Use 2 tablespoons of aquafaba in this gin fizz recipe as an equivalent to an egg white. Another popular egg white substitute for cocktails is this Fee Brothers Cocktail Foamer.

Variations on the gin fizz

There are a few famous variations on the gin fizz you must try if you love this recipe:

The Ramos Gin Fizz was invented in New Orleans in the 1880’s and tastes like lemon meringue pie. It adds lime juice, heavy cream and orange blossom water to the classic formula.
The Sloe Gin Fizz is a fruity spin on the classic, swapping out the gin for sloe gin.
A Tom Collins has the same ingredients without the egg white, and a Gin Sour has the same ingredients without the soda water.
A Bee’s Knees has similar ingredients, but swaps in honey syrup for simple syrup.