Eggs are a good cocktail ingredient

I know Easter has passed, but that doesn’t stop eggs from being awesome, especially in your cocktails.

Eggs are a wonderfully versatile drink ingredient, and flips are the class of cocktail that include them. Originally, flips consisted of beer, rum, sugar, and were heated with an iron, causing the drinks to gain a frothy consistency. However, over time, beer was kicked out and the texture-causing heat was replaced with eggs. Plus, people began to get creative, and rum was no longer the spirit required. For that, we should be forever grateful.

Eggs do well in cocktails because they add a viscous, creamy texture without the use of dairy, which can curdle. And while eggs add thickness, it’s usually less intense than actual cream. While some recipes call for whole eggs, others call simply for egg whites. Thanks to eggs, you can enjoy Pisco Sours, Ramos Gin Fizzes, and of course, Egg Nog.

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Can I Get Salmonella From Using Raw Eggs?

Now, let’s clear something up. Just how safe is it to drink raw eggs? Salmonella bacteria can enter an eggs two ways. A chicken can pass the bacteria into an egg sac while it’s forming, and it can also make it’s debut via the shell. The first scenario isn’t really dangerous, because only two to five bacteria enter the egg, and it typically takes about a hundreed bacteria to make someone ill. The second circumstance is when the pores in the shell become infected, and this usually infects egg white, as opposed to the yolk. Yolk becomes more susceptible when the egg is older and kept in warm temperature.

So, when it comes to drink mixing (and general purchasing, for that matter) it’s best to buy eggs that are clean, fresh, and kept at cool temperatures. That being said, Salmonella poisoning is pretty darned rare. If you’re super cautious (like, don’t eat raw cookie dough cautious, which I’m not), avoid flips. Otherwise, I’d say go nuts. Your egg cocktail choices are wide and varied.

One classic recipe is a Brandy Flip. In a shaker, combine 2.5 oz of brandy, an entire egg, a bar spoon of simple syrup, and ice. Shake and strain into a stemmed glass, grating a bit of nutmeg on top. Get your egg on.

A Brandy Flip is made with eggs

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