The White Lady
One of bartender extraordinaire Harry Craddock’s most well-known concoctions.
The gin-based cousin of a Margarita or a Sidecar, the egg white here just rounds the bright citrus notes of this drink but can be left out for a sharper (and vegan friendly!) version.
Ingredients
50ml (1 & 2/3oz) London Dry gin
20ml (2/3oz) triple sec or Curacao
20ml (2/3oz) fresh lemon juice
10ml (1/3oz) sugar syrup
10ml (1/3oz) egg white (optional)
Lemon twist to garnish (optional)
Equipment
A coupe
A jigger
Shaker tins
A hawthorn strainer
A fine strainer
Method
Prepare your lemon twist.
Add all ingredients to a shaker tin. If you’re using an egg white, add that here too.
Before adding ice, you want to dry shake to get a nice froth. You'll need to shake quite hard.
Once you have a nice froth, fill the smaller shaker tin with ice and shake hard again, this time until cold. It’s important to double strain (use the hawthorn strainer to hold the ice back in the tin and pour through the fine strainer), otherwise the ice chips will ruin the froth.
Strain into chilled coupe and if you are using a lemon twist, squeeze the it to expel the citrus oil over the drink then add the twist in to the glass. Enjoy!
Suggested Spirits
It’s fun to use a gin here which will add to the juicy orange flavour, so we have gone for Four Pillars Rare Dry. They use whole oranges in the distillation process which makes it perfect. Something like Tanqueray Sevilla would have the same effect, otherwise any good quality London Dry will work well.
We use Marionette Curacao, a local Australian brand. This is a little bit drier and uses three types of oranges for a good depth of flavor. If you want to use a triple sec instead of Curacao, Pierre Ferrand works well, otherwise if you can only find Cointreau, that works, just go a little lighter on it or cut back the sugar.