Cocktail recipe
Gin Fizz
Gin and lemon turned brisk, effervescent and wonderfully light.
Ingredients
- 60 ml (2 oz) London dry gin
- 30 ml (1 oz) fresh lemon juice
- 20 ml (⅔ oz) simple syrup (1:1)
- 60 ml (2 oz) chilled soda water
- Garnish: none
Preparation
Shake gin, lemon and syrup hard with ice, then fine-strain into a chilled highball without ice. Top with cold soda water in a steady pour; let the bubbles lift the drink rather than stirring them away. Serve promptly.
Glassware
Chilled highball glass, no ice
History
The Fizz is a 19th-century American development of the sour with sparkling water, with gin fizzes appearing in late-Victorian bar manuals. Jerry Thomas’s later editions and other period guides document the family, but no single bartender can be credited as the inventor of the standard Gin Fizz. Egg-white Silver Fizz, egg-yolk Golden Fizz and whole-egg Royal Fizz are distinct relatives, not interchangeable names for this clear, egg-free build.
Mixology View
The Gin Fizz is about velocity: shaken citrus, fresh carbonation, immediate service. We omit egg to keep it a true straightforward Gin Fizz.