15 Best Egg White Cocktails

Egg white cocktails are a pleasure to explore and fun to mix because they require a lot of shaking. From fizzes and sours to flips and nogs, eggs appear in several classic cocktails that have, in turn, inspired modern drink recipes. The egg white doesn't really change the flavor of a drink, but instead creates a wonderful foam and silky texture that makes each sip more enjoyable than the last.

The History of Drinks with Raw Egg

Raw egg drinks are nothing new. It's a practice used by many cultures that goes back to the 13th century, when eggs were a nutritional supplement or milk substitute and the first eggnogs were mixed up. In the 19th century, eggs even made it into English teas. Eggs were also a common ingredient in the cocktails documented by "Professor" Jerry Thomas in 1862, How to Mix Drinks: The Bon Vivant's Companion, the iconic printed bartending guide.

Fizzes, Flips, and Sours—When and How to Use Raw Egg in Cocktails

The majority of egg cocktails require separating the egg and using only the white (the yolks add an eggy flavor that isn't always desirable). Unless you're making two drinks at once, today's average large egg may be too much for most cocktails. Small or medium eggs are often a better choice.

You'll find that many recipes pair egg white with citrus and berries and that some are topped with soda. The fruit flavors and carbonation naturally enhance the experience. It's also common that the egg white is an optional ingredient. For instance, while a classically-styled whiskey sour includes an egg white, modern drinkers regularly prefer to leave it out. You can also add an egg white to similar drinks, such as the amaretto sour or any fizz or flip recipe.

Why You Should Dry Shake Egg White Cocktails

The trick to creating the best foam on top of egg white cocktails is to dry shake (sometimes called a mime shake). It's a bartending technique first documented in the 1950s, though it may have been used earlier. While it fell out of favor along with egg drinks during the mid-20th-century, the cocktail renaissance of the 2000s brought it back.

The primary purpose of dry shaking is to emulsify the egg white and aerate the proteins. While it produces a meringue-like texture, a shaken egg doesn't get as foamy as it would when whipping egg whites for food. The drink's other ingredients slow down that process, but the dry shake revives some of that froth.

Dry shaking adds one extra step to mixing a drink: Combine all the ingredients in a shaker without ice, shake vigorously for about 30 seconds, and then add ice and shake for another 30 seconds before straining the drink. Some bartenders also use the reverse dry shake: Shake all of the ingredients except the egg with ice for 25 seconds, remove the ice, add the egg white and shake again for 20 to 25 seconds (there's no need to strain the drink).

Whichever approach you use, the additional benefit is that you avoid an overly diluted cocktail. Shaking as long as needed to emulsify the egg with a shaker full of ice also breaks down the ice and adds some water to the drink.

How to Safely Mix With Raw Egg

Drinking raw eggs does pose a slight risk of food poisoning from bacteria such as salmonella. Children under 5, adults 65 and older, and people who have a weakened immune system are more likely to get infected and become seriously ill from salmonella, according to the CDC, while other populations might find the small risk worth the reward. The USDA suggests using pasteurized eggs for all raw applications because the heat kills bacteria.

The process of pasteurization also changes the egg's proteins, so you won't get the same amount of foam. If you do choose to use raw unpasteurized eggs, be sure to use the freshest eggs possible and keep them refrigerated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower.

Add These Egg White Cocktails to Your Home Bartending Repertoire