With the deadline to this years Gin Mare Mediterranean Inspirations Competition rapidly approaching we thought we’d have a look at some egg inspired cocktails for you.
This years Mediterranean Inspirations competition has a new round, asking bartenders to enter a drink inspired by the humble egg. This opens up a lot of options and styles of drinks so we thought we’d take a look at a few examples of some modern egg drinks we have enjoyed in recent years to inspire you all.
Even before this years egg based round the Mediterranean Inspirations comp has a had plenty of drinks containing the ingredient. In actual fact two of the last three UK champions went onto the final of the competition with at least one drinks containing egg white.
In 2013 Ali Reynolds’ entry into the Mare Nostrum round, named the Ibiza Crush, combined Gin Mare with egg white and Cynar to create an exceptionally tasty drink which saw him win not only a very tough London heat but an equally strong UK final.
Ibiza Crush
50ml Gin Mare
15ml egg white
10ml lemon juice
10ml pink grapefruit juice
10ml Cynar
10ml homemade passion fruit syrup
Dry shake, then wet shake. Double strained into a fancy coupette glass.
The following year Russell Downie found himself at a villa on the hills of Ibiza overlooking the Mediterranean Sea competing in the global final courtesy of his Pink Basil serve. The drink not only tasted superb but in the sun-drenched setting showed the aesthetic advantage of an egg white shaken drink.
Pink Basil
60ml Gin Mare
25ml grilled lemon juice
12.5ml Mediterranean spiced grenadine
4 lemon basil leaves
Egg white
Shake, then double strain into coupette with a lemon basil garnish
Stu Bale has worked with Gin Mare for a number of years, helping them create serves using all sorts of ingredients in untold settings. He recently helped them put together a cocktail menu to match a three course dinner and showed off another style of egg drinks, the flip. On this occasion it was a dessert inspired concoction.
Chocolate Orange Flip
20ml Dry Chocolate liqueur
20ml sugar syrup
Bloomsbury Bitter
40ml London dry gin
10ml Amaro Montenegro
5ml honey syrup
10ml spiced lager syrup*
30ml grapefruit juice
1 egg white
Combine ingredients in a shaker, dry shake, add ice and shake vigorously, strain into a handled beer mug, top with soda and a dash of dandelion and burdock bitters.
If you are after something a little more experimental the how about this one from GIN in the cuisine of the 21st century by Rafael Anson. In her drink Mediterranean Wine the egg white foam is removed from the drink itself and made separately before being layered on top giving a great contrast to the look.
Mediterranean Wine
2 bunches of seedless grapes
60ml Gin Mare
10 grams sugar
1 branch rosemary
Fizzy mineral water
For the cinnamon foam (makes enough for several serves):
2 egg whites
20 grams sugar
90ml syrup of cinnamon (Monin make one)
0.5 grams xanthan gum
360ml lemon juice
Pinch sea salt
Run the bunches of grapes through a Thermomix and filter them through a muslin strainer. Mix the juice obtained in a shaker with the Gin Mare, rosemary and sugar. Shake and fine strain into a martini glass. Top with the mineral water, then the foam and top with a pinch of rosemary.
These are just a few of the thousands of egg based cocktails out there but just these 5 show the diversity that can be achieved from this simple ingredient. Don’t feel trapped by styles of drinks though, a recent conversation with Lyndon Higginson revealed that a few years ago he, Jake Burger and Bart Murphy entered a competition with a drink served inside an egg (unfortunately they left the job of taking the tops gently off the eggs to Lyndon so the egg prep success rate was pretty low).
If you would like some more inspiration in the form of the history of the egg in drinks then check out our article here. For more information on the Gin Mare Mediterranean Inspirations Competition including details on how to enter and the £3,500 top prize head to this page. Don’t delay as the entry deadline is May 31st.
And if all that wasn’t inspiring enough check out the video of last years final below….
*How to make your own lager syrup (the Eau De Vie Way)
2 bottles of lager
500ml sugar
2 whole chopped green apples
2 whole lemons (skin and all)
1 drop wintergreen essential oil
Boil all ingredients for 10 minutes. Rest for one hour to infuse. Strain off and add 100ml vodka.