I’m on a roll with variations of the Ramos Gin Fizz right now and today, this close to Halloween, I’m putting together a Halloween Ramos Fizz to enjoy while the kids are hopped up on sugar. Since I’m a whiskey fiend, I’m using whiskey rather than gin, and getting that green color with some blue curacao and mango nectar. It’s a little more volume than a regular Ramos, but a glorious light green color.
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What’s a Ramos Gin Fizz?
This cocktail is based on the Ramos Gin Fizz, a gloriously beautiful cocktail with a head of foam that rises over the rim of the glass. It’s creamy, tart, and boozy, the perfect adult version of a float or milkshake. While the classic Ramos Gin Fizz uses gin, I’m such a bourbon girl I had to sub in a whiskey.
The Ramos Gin Fizz was invented in New Orleans in 1888 by Henry C Ramos who took a common cocktail of the time, a Gin Fizz, and added cream and egg white. Those two additions and a hefty amount of shaking in a cocktail tin gave the cocktail a beautiful appearance. The top foam of the cocktail rises above the rim, beyond the top of the glass like a tiny top hat.
At one point, Ramos had many extra hands in his bar to do the 12 min (supposedly) shake to get that gorgeous float of foam on the top of the cocktail. There’s only one of me, so I get the help of a latte whisk to get that superb foam to float up over the rim of the cocktail.
Ingredients in a Ramos Gin Fizz
The traditional gin fizz has gin, lime, egg white, whipped cream, and simple syrup. Everything is shaken with ice for a terribly long shake, poured into a glass, then let set for a few minutes (hopefully in a freezer) until a touch of soda added to the top makes that foam float up.
Tricks for this Halloween Ramos Fizz
While the Ramos Gin Fizz can seem intimidating, it’s not a difficult cocktail to make, just one with a very specific method to get the expected results. Here are some tricks I use in getting my Ramos to work every time.
- Use an egg white. I haven’t had great luck substituting aquafaba and getting the same foam height.
- Don’t worry if you can’t shake it for 3 or 4 (or 7) minutes. Shake as long as you can and get as much air into the cocktail as possible to build the foam needed.
- Use a latte whisk instead of shaking for 3 to 7 minutes. You can get your foam up in 30 seconds with an inexpensive coffee gadget.
- Once the initial cocktail has been poured in the Collins glass, set it in the freezer for 3 to 5 minutes. Once set, add your ginger beer.
- Use a straw to poke a hole in the head of foam before pouring in your ginger beer. It’ll help the ginger beer stay in the glass rather than running out over the side.
- Make sure the ginger beer (or whatever carbonated product you are using) is chilled as cold as possible. That helps the liquid keep its carbonation and float the foam higher.
Ginger Beer or Seltzer for this Cocktail?
While this cocktail calls for ginger beer because I was going for the taste of a mango lassi, ginger beer was the carbonated beverage of course. You can use any form of carbonated beverage for a riff on the Ramos Gin Fizz, but the classic uses cold soda water. I used Regatta Craft Mixer’s Ginger Beer here as it’s one of my favorites.
Match your carbonation flavors with the style and flavors of the rest of the cocktail. That’s the easiest way to make sure your cocktail is cohesive in taste and presentation.
Recommended Bar Tools
You don’t need every slick, beautiful bar tool out there, but there are several I’ll recommend. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, that does not affect the cost of the items below.) My favorite pieces usually come from the Cocktail Kingdom section of Amazon:
You may already have these bar essentials, but just in case:
Halloween Ramos Fizz
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz bourbon
- 0.5 blue curacao
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1 oz whipping cream
- 1 oz mango nectar
- 1 oz mango simple syrup
- 8 drops cardamom bitters
- 2 dashes ginger bitters
- 1 egg white
- Ginger beer to top
Instructions
- Combine bourbon, curacao, lemon juice, whipping cream, mango nectar, mango simple syrup, and bitters in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake 20 seconds.
- Double strain into a mixing glass or fresh shaker tin and add the egg white.
- Use a latte whisk*** on the cocktail for 25-30 seconds or until it has increased in volume by 1/3 to 1/2.
- Pour into chilled Collins glass and place in freezer for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Use a straw to poke a small hole in the top of the foam and pour in the ginger beer until the top of the foam rises over the rim of the glass.
- Garnish with a moustache and enjoy.
