3 Roaringly Spooky Silver Fizz Recipes
To skip the post and step-by-step instructions and go straight to recipe, click here. All sources used in research for this post are linked in the text.What’s a 1920’s themed party without some festive beverages? Just not as good, friends. And I have three of them for you today, woohoo! Three beverages, not three friends.
These are three different takes on the Silver Fizz cocktail - Classic, Fall, and Spooky, all of which can be made virgin and/or vegan if desired! But I’ll get into that later.
What’s a “fizz”?
A fizz is, simply put, any alcoholic drink made with hard liquor and seltzer. By far the most common form of fizz in the 1920’s however, was the gin fizz, because gin was fast and easy to produce under the radar during prohibition. This drink was originally created in the 1860’s as a hair-of-the-dog drink, according to some sources, but first referenced in text in the Boston Globe in 1882 through this quote:
“About 9 o’clock a young fellow said to his sister: “Em, If you’ll get the glasses and ice I’ll rig up a fiz.” Eight glasses and a bowl of ice were soon brought. Em, her cousin and the young fellow rolled lemons on the table to make them juicy, squeezed the juice into the glasses, put in the ice, heaped in some sugar and added a mere drop of water. An egg cup, twice filled with gin, was emptied in each of the eight glasses. Five bottles of plain soda supplied the fiz–and in much less time than I can tell it sixteen lips pronounced the eight drinks “delicious.” Being a stranger, I took one in, and am free to say I liked it. But that isn’t the point. I was stuck with the obvious fact that this fiz was a regular evening habit.”
This drink however, sounds to me more like a Tom Collins, which is a similar drink, though not shaken and served on the rocks, whereas the gin fizz is traditionally shaken with the ice to create a bubbly foam.
The gin fizz shot up in popularity between 1900 and 1940, especially in New Orleans, where they were in such high demand that teams of bartenders would take turns passing them around in order to shake them long enough without killing their arms. Some places even hired specific tenders just to make fizzes, since they took so long to craft.
Fizzes typically contain liquor, citrus, sugar, and seltzer, but like two of the versions I’ll be showing today, you can mix it up quite a bit with different juices, liquors, carbonated drinks, or whatever you want! If you have a fun combo you like, let me know in the comments!
What makes a fizz “silver”?
The three drinks I’m posting today are all “silver” fizzes, solely due to the addition of an egg white, creating a thick luscious meringue-like foam on the top of your drink and a smooth mouthfeel throughout. Other variations on the gin fizz include the golden fizz, in which the drink is shaken with an egg yolk, and the royal fizz, which includes an entire egg in the mix.
These cocktails are delicious and great for fall and Halloween, but if you find yourself liking this classic cocktail and wanting more versatile versions, here are some other combo ideas for you!
Lavender Lemonade: Make a classic lemony silver fizz, but add dried lavender blossoms to the sugar syrup while it’s heating to make a sweet, floral syrup.
Fresh Grapefruit: Replace the lemon juice in a classic fizz with grapefruit juice. To bump up the flavor further, add 1 teaspoon grapefruit zest to the sugar syrup while it’s cooking.
Black Raspberry Basil: Make a classic silver fizz, but add 2 chopped basil leaves, 4 raspberries, and 2 blackberries, muddled.
Silver Fizz Float: Make any silver fizz and add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream! YUM!
Flu Remedy: Replace the sugar syrup in a classic gin fizz with honey, and the club soda with ginger ale for a kick (disclaimer: not a proven cure for the flu).
Drunken Pirate: Replace gin with rum, use the spice syrup from the apple version, and use iced strong chai tea in place of the fruit juice. Arr!
Can it Be Vegan or Virgin?
It sure can! To make a vegan version, replace the egg white with 2-3 tablespoons of aquafaba. If you’re not familiar, aquafaba is the liquid that canned chickpeas or garbanzo beans are in. It sounds really strange, but it’s changed vegan cooking and baking in a big way in the last decade as an egg white substitute. It even whips up just like egg whites to make vegan meringue!
To make a virgin version (that’s hard to say), simply replace the liquor with more fruit juice or soda, simple as that! I will say, however, that I would be wary of making a virgin version with a real egg white, as the acid and alcohol together help to somewhat “cook” the egg white, whereas here it would be purely raw, so consume at your own risk or make your virgin version vegan.
Step-By-Step Walk-through:
If you’re feeling confident in your cooking skills and want to skip the walk-through, click here.
Classic Silver Fizz
Step 1:
Make the Sugar Syrup
Add ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water to a small pot.
Stir well and place over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Transfer to a jar or food storage container for future use.
Step 2:
Prepare Ingredients
Measure out 2 ounces of lemon juice, 1 egg white, 1-2 ounces of gin, depending on the desired strength of your drink, and 1 ounce of your sugar syrup.
Step 3:
Shake Shake Shake
Add all your prepared ingredients, along with 3 ice cubes, to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for at LEAST 3 minutes (you may want to share this task with a friend). It gets very cold, so you may want a towel to wrap around it.
Step 4:
Top it Off
Dip the rim of a highball glass or tumbler in water or lemon juice, then into metallic sugar sprinkles or sanding sugar to make it stick.
Pour the drink into the glass.
Top off the drink with club soda and finish with a fun straw!
Spooky Kiwi Silver Fizz
Step 1:
Make the Lime Syrup
Zest a lime with a zester or the second largest size on a cheese grater.
Put 1 teaspoon of the lime zest (the remaining can be frozen in a food storage container for future use), ½ cup sugar, and ½ cup water in a small pot.
Mix together and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.
When sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat. If desired, strain out the lime zest with a fine mesh strainer and leave to cool completely. Pour into a jar or food storage container for future use.
Step 2:
Make Garnish
Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 4 drops of black food coloring to a small food storage container.
Secure the lid and shake vigorously until sugar is well-dyed. Pour out onto a plate.
Step 3:
Prep Ingredients
Squeeze the pulp of a ripe, soft kiwi into a small blender and blend until smooth, or into a cup and blend with an immersion blender. Or, if you don’t have those gadgets and don’t mind a more textured pulp, smash well with a fork.
Measure out 1 egg white, 1 ounce of your lime syrup, and 1-2 ounces of gin depending on how strong you’d like your drink.
Step 4:
Shake Shake Shake
Add egg white, syrup, gin, and kiwi juice/pulp into a cocktail shaker, along with 3 ice cubes. Shake vigorously for at LEAST 3 minutes to create a thick egg white foam (you may want to share this task with a friend). The shaker gets very cold, so you may want a towel to wrap it in.
Step 5:
Top it Off
Take a highball glass or tumbler and dip the edge into water or lime juice, then into the black sugar to make it stick.
Pour the drink into the glass.
Top off the drink with club soda and finish with a fun straw!
Spiced Apple Silver Fizz
Step 1:
Make Spice Syrup
Place ½ cup sugar, ½ cup water, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (highly recommend freshly grated), and ¼ teaspoon ground ginger into a small pot.
Mix well and place over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Once all the sugar has been dissolved, remove it from heat and allow to cool completely. Transfer to a jar or food storage container for future use.
Step 2:
Prepare Ingredients
Measure out 2 ounces of apple cider, 1 egg white, 1-2 ounces of gin depending on how strong you’d like your drink, and 1 ounce of the spice syrup.
Step 3:
Shake Shake Shake
Add all of your prepared ingredients, along with 3 ice cubes, into a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for at LEAST 3 minutes (you may want to share this task with a friend). The shaker will get very cold, so you may want a towel to wrap it in.
Step 4:
Top it Off
Pour the drink into a highball glass or tumbler.
Fill up the remaining space in the glass with club soda. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the foam to garnish, and finish off with a fun straw!
Classic Silver Fizz
Servings: 1 Time: 10-12 minutes
Difficulty: 🧡🧡🧡🤍🤍
Ingredients:
FOR SIMPLE SYRUP:
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
REMAINING INGREDIENTS:
2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 egg white
1-2 oz. gin, depending on desired strength
3 Ice cubes
Club soda
FOR GARNISH
Lemon juice or water
Metallic sugar sprinkles or sanding sugar
Directions:
Step 1: Make Simple Syrup
Add sugar and water to a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Stir occasionally. When sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat. Let cool completely.
Step 2: Shake Shake Shake
Add 1 ½ ounces of simple syrup, the lemon juice, egg white, gin, and 3 ice cubes to a cocktail shaker and shake for at LEAST 3 minutes (you may want to share this task with a friend) to make a thick egg white froth.
Step 3: Top it Off
To garnish, dip the rim of a highball glass or tumbler in lemon juice and then into silver or gold sugar sprinkles. Then, pour the drink into the glass and fill up the remaining space with cold club soda.
Spooky Kiwi Silver Fizz
Servings: 1 Time: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty: 🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍
Ingredients:
FOR THE LIME SYRUP
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 tsp. lime zest
REMAINING INGREDIENTS
1 kiwis worth of pureed pulp
1 egg white
1-2 oz. gin, depending on desired strength
3 Ice cubes
Club soda
FOR GARNISH
2 TBS. sugar
Lime juice or water
4 drops black food coloring
Directions:
Step 1: Make the Lime Syrup
Add sugar, water, and lime zest to a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Stir occasionally. When sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat. If desired, strain out lime zest with a fine mesh strainer. Let cool completely.
Step 2: Shake Shake Shake
Add 1 oz. of lime syrup, kiwi pulp, egg white, gin, and 3 ice cubes to a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for at LEAST 3 minutes (you may want to share this task with a friend) to make the thick egg white foam.
Step 3: Top it Off
To garnish, place sugar and black food coloring in a small food storage container and shake well until sugar is dyed. Dip the rim of a tumbler or highball glass into lime juice and then roll in the dyed sugar. Pour the shaken drink into the glass and fill the rest of the glass with club soda.
Spiced Apple Silver Fizz
Servings: 1 Time: 10-12 minutes
Difficulty: 🧡🧡🧡🤍🤍
Ingredients:
FOR THE SPICE SYRUP:
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
½ tsp. cinnamon
⅛ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground ginger
REMAINING INGREDIENTS:
2 oz. apple cider
1 egg white
1-2 oz. gin, depending on desired strength
3 Ice cubes
Club soda
FOR GARNISH:
Cinnamon
Directions:
Step 1: Make Spice Syrup
Add all syrup ingredients to a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Stir occasionally. When sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat. Let cool completely.
Step 2: Shake Shake Shake
Add 1 oz. of spice syrup, egg white, gin, apple cider, and 3 ice cubes to a cocktail shaker and shake well for at LEAST 3 minutes (you may want to share this task with a friend) to make a frothy egg white foam.
Step 3: Top it Off
Pour drink into a tumbler or highball glass and fill up the rest of the glass with cold club soda. If desired, sprinkle cinnamon on the top to garnish.