Perfect Head

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were at Audrey Saunder's Pegu Club having perfect drinks made by the venerable Del Pedro. During our inebriated discussion, my friend mentioned not being able to get a nice foamy head on egg based drinks. I asked him to explain his method, and it sounded right to me.

Since them, several of the egg based drinks I made disappointed, not in flavor, but in the lack of distinct separation of frothy foam from the rest of the ingredients. I was perplexed, as I remember achieving a nice balance in the past. I wondered what was wrong, but didn't give it much thought.

The mystery revealed itself this evening, as if it was guided to me, my hand forced.

See, I am going through Ted Haigh's Vintage Cocktails and Forgotten Spirits, trying to pick off each of the 100 drinks. I've probably gone through a third of them so far. Tonight's drink was...

The Secret Cocktail

1.5 oz Gin

1/2 oz Apple Jack

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

1 Egg White

2 dashes Grenadine

I combined all of the ingredients over ice in a 16 oz shaker tin, realizing, "Oh, no!" I forgot to do a dry shake. I was tempted to strain and go for the dry shake, when I decided just to shake vigorously, more so than usual. When I strained it into a coupe, I noticed a distinctly different texture than my previous egg silvers. And it suddenly struck me that this was going to separate into a beautiful foam. I was right.

So, what was going on? It seems that only within the past several months did I discover the dry shake, a tip recommended by many to help emulsify the egg white more easily. But it seems that the dry shake may work a little too well, and prevent a perfect head.

Now, I have one more test to do to see if my theory is correct, which it may not be. But, it is too late now to do any loud shaking. See, after reading an article on shaking by Alex Day and Eben Klemm, I decided not to fill the tin full of ice, but rather on 5 or 6 cubes. So, it might be this rather than the absence of dry shaking. I will follow up tomorrow.