🥃 Gin Fizz

Gin Fizz is a classic cocktail of gin, fresh lemon juice and sugar syrup, topped with sparkling water. The International Bartenders Association (IBA) lists it among its "Unforgettable" cocktails. The mark of a fizz is that the ingredients are shaken with ice but served without ice in a narrow tall glass, so the drink is short and fizzy.

IBA recipe. 45 ml gin, 30 ml fresh lemon juice and 10 ml sugar syrup are shaken with ice, strained into a tall glass and topped with a little soda. Garnish with a lemon slice. Difford's Guide suggests 50 ml gin, 22.5 ml juice, 15 ml rich syrup and 120 ml chilled soda.

History. According to Difford's Guide, the Gin Fiz recipe appears in the 1876 bartender's guide by Jerry Thomas: it is the Whiskey Fiz with gin instead of whiskey, with crushed ice and seltzer. The website The Gin Is In dates it from Harry Johnson's 1882 guide, which used Old Tom gin; later dry gin replaced it.

Fizz and Collins. Compared with a Gin Collins (more precisely John Collins), the fizz differs in how it is served: it is poured into a smaller glass, up to 300 ml, without ice, while a Collins goes into a larger glass with ice. Well-known variations are the Silver Fizz with egg white, the Golden Fizz with yolk and the Ramos Gin Fizz with cream and orange flower water.

Why it matters to you. Soda and lemon make the cocktail light in taste, but not in alcohol: one IBA serving of 45 ml gin contains about 14 g of pure alcohol. Versions with a raw egg are not suitable for people with an egg allergy. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.