The Ramos Gin Fizz is a quintessential New Orleans cocktail. Discover why it’s considered royalty in the Louisiana city where the good times roll all year long but especially during Mardi Gras. Then learn how to craft the fizzy gin drink at home.
Henry Charles Ramos literally shook things up when he created the New Orleans Fizz in 1988.
Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of this New Orleans cocktail classic. The name was later changed to Ramos Gin Fizz in honor of its inventor. Read on for the full fizzy scoop.
What Is the Ramos Gin Fizz?
The Ramos Gin Fizz is cocktail royalty in New Orleans, a city where cocktails rule the roost. However, few people know much about the fizzy gin cocktail until they travel to Louisiana’s Crescent City and imbibe it at the source.
The New Orleans cocktail never achieved the global recognition of the city’s Sazerac and Hurricane for a couple valid reasons. Ramos closed his bar at the start of prohibition, plus the drink requires an inordinate amount of shaking. That being said, let’s be clear – the Ramos Gin Fizz is not difficult to craft. However, in an age of immediate gratification, it does require an extra few minutes of work.
Cocktail connoisseurs won’t mind a little extra arm exercise once they taste their first Ramos Gin Fizz. The unique Gin Fizz recipe, which includes orange blossom water, cream and an egg white, results in a creamy cocktail with floral undertones and a bubbly cloud of fizzy foam. In other words, the Ramos Fizz is fun to sip, admire and taste.
Discover more cocktails with egg white to craft at home.
History of the Ramos Gin Fizz
Many pre-prohibition cocktails involve simple recipes with five ingredients or fewer. The Ramos Gin Fizz isn’t one of those drinks.
Its creator, Henry Charles Ramos, took the simple gin fizz concept to new heights by adding orange flower water to a recipe that originally required twelve minutes of vigorous shaking. The New Orleans barman initially crafted the complicated cocktail at the Imperial Cabinet Saloon in 1888 and continued to craft Ramos Gin Fizzes at The Stag until the start of Prohibition ended the drink’s reign.
Discover more of our favorite Pre-Prohibition cocktails.
At its peak, Ramos had a bar filled with ‘shaker boys’ who shook Ramos Gin Fizzes for thirsty crowds that included Huey Long and other local luminaries. Those ‘boys’ were required to shake the cocktail for a full 12 minutes. Phew!!
New Orleans locals adored Ramos’ frothy cocktail. In fact, some likened the drink to lemon meringue pie. The Roosevelt Hotel bought the rights to the drink in 1935 and it’s currently a signature cocktail in the hotel’s The Sazerac Bar. However, for better or worse, bartenders at the hotel bar and around New Orleans have slightly smaller shoulders since they no longer shake Ramos Gin Fizz cocktails for a full 12 minutes.
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Ingredients
The Ramos Gin Fizz cocktail bucks the classic cocktail playbook with an ingredient list that exceeds five items. These is the full list of ingredients you need to craft the classic New Orleans cocktail at home:
Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.
Gin is the only liquor in the classic Ramos Gin Fizz recipe. We like to use Citadelle’s dry gin in this and other cocktail recipes. The French gin has 19 botanicals and comes in a pretty blue bottle.
You can and should use your favorite gin when you craft this recipe in your home.
Discover our favorite gin cocktails.
Orange blossom water is the only ingredient that we needed to purchase to craft this recipe. And, to be honest, we had to do a bit of hunting before we found it it at a local specialty shop
It turns out that orange blossom water is a common ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine. The fragrant, versatile liquid distilled from orange blossoms also shows up in recipes for French Madeleines, Mexican Wedding Cakes and the Ramos Gin Fizz cocktail.
How to Craft a Ramos Gin Fizz Cocktail
The first step in this recipe is to measure the gin, cream, lemon juice, lime juice and simple syrup. We use a Japanese jigger to measure each of these liquids to ensure accurate measurements and minimize spillage.
Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you need a jigger or want an inexpensive upgrade.
Pour the liquids directly into a shaker after you measure each. We use a Boston shaker for this and other cocktail recipes. While we own other shakers, this is our go-to shaker since it doesn’t leak and goes right into the dishwasher after we use it.
Crack an egg and separate the egg white. The egg white goes into the shaker too.
Raw Egg White
We’re comfortable using raw egg white since we have access to fresh eggs at our local markets. However, you can use pasteurized egg white or aquafaba instead. If you’re not familiar with aquafaba, it’s the liquid in every can of chick peas.
Measure the orange blossom water and pour the fragrant distilled liquid into the shaker.
Flex your muscles and grab a timer – it’s shake time.
We stated above that the Ramos Gin Fizz is labor intensive and we weren’t exaggerating. This recipe requires the following two part shaking process:
First, dry shake the liquids without ice for 20 seconds. The dry shake causes the egg white to emulsify.
Next, open the shaker and add a handful of ice cubes. Close it and shake with the ice for three minutes. Your arms will get tired and you’ll stop hearing the ice cubes rattling against the shaker. It’s all part of the Ramos Gin Fizz shaking process.
Pro Tip
Don’t cheat on this step. On our first attempt, we added too much ice and didn’t shake long enough. The cocktail tasted good but had the wrong consistency.
Strain the shaken mixture into a highball glass.
The final step is to top off the glass with sparkling water. You can use unflavored seltzer, soda water or club soda if that’s what you have in your refrigerator. Be sure to use a new, fully carbonated bottle to achieve full fizz.
Assuming you didn’t cheat on the shaking step, a metal straw will stand tall in the drink. You’ll want to sip from that straw after you snap a photo or two.
Variations
The most difficult aspect of crafting a Ramos Gin Fizz is finding orange blossom water. Here are some ideas if you have trouble sourcing the integral ingredient or if you’re uncomfortable ingesting raw egg white:
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Ramos Fizz was invented in New Orleans.
The Sazerac Baris the New Orleans bar most associated with the Ramos Fizz.
Gin, Egg White, Heavy Cream, Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice, Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice, Orange Blossom Water, Simple Syrup, Sparkling Water and Ice (for shaking)
No. You can replace the egg white with aquafaba if you’re concerned about ingesting raw egg white.
The Ramos Fizz is shaken, not stirred.
We like to serve this cocktail in a highball glass and you should do the same.
Did you craft this cocktail? If so, please rate the recipe below.
Ramos Gin Fizz Recipe
The Ramos Gin Fizz takes a lot of shaking but it’s easy to make. Follow our easy recipe and craft the frothy New Orleans cocktail at home in less than 10 minutes.
Servings: 1
Calories: 326kcal
- 2 ounces gin
- 1 ounce heavy cream
- 1 ounce simple syrup
- ½ ounce lemon juice
- ½ ounce lime juice (freshly squeezed)
- ⅜ teaspoon orange blossom water
- 1 egg white
- club soda or sparkling water
- ice cubes
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Combine gin, heavy cream, lemon juice, lime juice, simple syrup, orange blossom water and egg white in a shaker.
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Shake vigorously for 20 seconds so that the egg white emulsifies.
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Add 5 medium ice cubes and vigorously shake for 3 minutes.
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Strain into a highball glass.
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Top with club soda or sparkling water and serve with a metal straw.
- No garnish is necessary but feel free to top with lime zest, a lime wedge or an orange wheel.
- You’ll know you got it right if the metal straw stands on its own in the finished cocktail.
Calories: 326kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 425IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1mg
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