By Bruce Harlick - A Bartender Journey listener and Cocktail enthusiast.

Incorporating egg whites into your cocktails can seem tricky, but it’s really pretty simple. There are a few things to keep in mind:

• Make sure to use fresh eggs! You’re consuming the raw egg whites, so you don’t want to use eggs that have been sitting in your fridge for weeks on end. Plus, fresh egg whites foam up better.
  
• If you don’t want to mess with separating the whites from the yolk (or you want to use something that’s been pasteurized), get a carton of egg whites at your local grocer. They work just about as well as fresh eggs in cocktails, are easier to handle, and keep for quite a while. (If, like me, you’re not great at separating egg whites, they are probably more economical as well.)
  
• A pretty easy way to separate eggs is to use an empty plastic water bottle. Just crack the egg into a small bowl, put the mouth over the yolk, and squeeze the bottle. That should suck the yolk up into the bottle while leaving the white to use in your drink. You can freeze the yolks in ice cube trays for later use. This video demonstrates the technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AirVOuTN_M
  

So, you have your egg white, you have the ingredients for the cocktail, and you’re ready to mix. What now? Getting the egg white to really emulsify is the trick here. Here are some tips on how to do that:

• You’ll need to shake, not stir, a cocktail with egg white in it.
  
• Using a “dry shake” technique will help get more foam. To dry shake, put all of the liquid ingredients into the shake without ice, seal it and shake it for a while. If you’re using a Boston shaker, be a little careful as you won’t get as tight of a seal as you’re used to without the ice in there. After the dry shake is over, open the shaker, add ice, and shake again to chill.
  
• As you dry shake, the volume of the liquid will expand which can force your shaker to come apart. Just be prepared for this and you’ll be fine. I often wrap a towel around the shaker to catch any leaks and prevent big spills from happening.
  
• You’ll need to dry shake the drink a lot; like for a minute or two. It’s a great workout for your arms!
  
• If you don’t want to exercise that much while making your cocktail, try using a milk foamer or stick (immersion) blender. Blend for 5 or 10 seconds and you’ll get a nice foam.
  
• Always double-strain egg white cocktails; you want to catch all of the ice bits and any bit of solidified egg white.
  

That’s really all there is to it, except for deciding what drink to make. There are plenty of great ones, such as the Ramos Gin Fizz, the Pink Lady, or the Pisco Sour. Personally, I love throwing an egg white into almost any sour-type drink, such as the Last Word. It really transforms them into something creamy and wonderful.

If your cocktail includes bitters, the egg white top make a beautiful canvas for the cocktail equivalent of latte art. Pisco Sours are traditionally decorated with a few drops of Amargo (or Angostura) bitters in a pattern. You can use a toothpick to “draw” with the bitters in the foam to further enhance the art. Or try cutting a stencil of a simple pattern out of a plastic deli-container lid, laying it over the top of the glass, and spraying some dark-colored bitters on. It makes for a very distinctive drink!

That’s pretty much all there is to it. Have fun playing with egg whites and enjoy some tasty cocktails!