How to Use Egg Whites in Cocktails

Egg whites are a great ingredient to add to cocktails. They give a drink a silky texture and add a frothy head that gives a drink a very distinctive look. You need raw egg whites – not cooked eggs – to develop the foam on a drink. If you don’t feel comfortable drinking raw egg whites, you can get the same results from fresh, in-shell pasteurized eggs, which are a great alternative to raw eggs and are widely available at most grocery stores. You can also buy pasteurized egg whites in a carton, but these won’t froth up as much as fresh egg whites will.

A “dry shake” is an instruction that you’ll come across any time you have a recipe that uses egg whites to put a frothy head on a drink. “Dry shaking” refers to shaking your cocktail ingredients without any ice added to the mix. This process allows the egg white to break down and foam up easily. Adding ice will make the egg white too cold to foam up to its maximum volume and can also break apart the foam as it forms, resulting in a drink that will have some foam, but not nearly as much as it could have if given a proper dry shake.

Recipes with Egg Whites:

• Fresh Midori Sour
• Amaretto Sour
• Silver Fizz