Egg white cocktails are a great way to use eggs when they’re abundant in summer. Did you know, you can also make cocktails with a whole egg? Here are seven heavenly eggcellent concoctions perfect for summer sipping. Enjoy!
You probably already know this, but you don’t need to shy away from drinking—or eating—your own backyard-fresh eggs raw. Eggs are good, healthy food (and they make delicious cocktails, too!). When hens are kept right, in a clean environment, with plenty of fresh air, sunshine and grass, the chances of an overgrowth of bad bacteria are slim.
Folks have been adding raw egg—whites, yolks or both—to drinks and foods for centuries. Yolks and whole eggs add an unmistakable rich, silky, creaminess without adding dairy. And adding whites of eggs to a shaker gives egg white cocktails a professional foamy top and velvety texture.
Tip: When using raw eggs in cocktail recipes, always break the egg into a bowl first, before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. That way you can discard any with unappealing blood spots or ones that don’t pass the sniff test, without contaminating the other ingredients and ruining the whole recipe.
Liquid Lemon Meringue
Limoncello is a sweet-tart Italian lemon liqueur that’s great to have on hand for making cocktails and baking. It’s lovely and refreshing on its own over ice after a meal or simply added to chilled fizzy water. This pretty cocktail delivers the flavor of the classic pie without the baking!
Yield: 2 drinks
Ingredients
- 1 ounce plain or vanilla vodka
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup limoncello
- 1 free-range egg white
- lemon peel to garnish (optional)
Preparation
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice for these egg white cocktails. Shake well for at least 30 seconds—really develop a thick, meringue-like foam. Hold the ice back and pour into two generous martini glasses. Garnish with a bit of lemon peel, if desired.
Read more: Spend a lovely afternoon coopside with your ladies and this delicious orange blossom cocktail!
Cool & Calm
This healthy, rich but refreshing blender mocktail is just what the doctor ordered for any time of day. Brew the green tea the day before and refrigerate, but don’t leave the tea leaves—or bags—in the pot, or the brew will become bitter.
Yield: 2 drinks
Ingredients
- 1 cup brewed and chilled jasmine or plain green tea
- 1 whole free-range egg
- 2 tablespoons maple or agave syrup
- 1 cup whole dairy or chilled plain almond milk
- 4 ice cubes
Preparation
Add everything to a blender and blend on high into a smoothie. Pour into two glasses. Serve immediately as this drink may separate if left to sit for too long.
To take this from mocktail to cocktail, add 1/4 cup of green tea liqueur and eliminate the syrup.
Blueberry Maple Sour
This is so pretty and so delicious! We’ve used a specialty liqueur from Quebec called Sortilège, but any whiskey or bourbon-based maple liqueur will do.
Yield: 2 drinks
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup whiskey or bourbon
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 free-range egg white
- 1/4 cup Sortilège or other maple liqueur
- 2 to 4 dashes Angostura bitters, depending on how tart you like things
- thin lime slices to garnish
Preparation
For these egg white cocktails, into a blender add frozen blueberries, lime juice and whiskey. Blend on high until puréed. Let stand for at least 20 minutes or longer. The berries will infuse flavor and color into the whiskey. Strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Discard the blueberry pulp.
You should end up with about 2⁄3 cup of infused blueberry whiskey.
Into a cocktail shaker, add the strained blueberry-whiskey mixture, egg white, maple liqueur, and bitters. Shake well for at least 30 seconds. Strain into two tumblers with ice and garnish with a lime slice.
Creamy Vanilla-Orange Nog
Christmas isn’t the only time for nog! Made with fresh, raw, whole eggs and cream or milk, nogs are rich, creamy and frothy, and perfect for brunch. Combining vanilla and orange gives this velvety treat its delightful creamsicle flavor. Don’t substitute the freshly squeezed OJ for anything less. Store-bought is just too acidic. 
Yield: 2 drinks
Ingredients
- 1 small tin mandarin orange slices in syrup, drained, syrup reserved
- 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1/4 cup vanilla vodka
- 1 whole free-range egg
- 1 tablespoon reserved syrup from tinned mandarin orange slices
- 2 tablespoons 35% or whipping cream
- 8 ice cubes
Preparation
Make the garnish in advance (optional): Thread several mandarin slices onto two skewers and set aside in the freezer on a bit of wax paper several hours or the day before. You could also just simply garnish with a couple of orange slices.
Into a blender, add the orange juice, vodka, egg, mandarin syrup and two ice cubes. Blend until smooth.
Pour into tumblers with the remaining ice. Garnish with frozen mandarin slices.
Mango Flip
Like nogs, flips are silky and frothy and call for fresh, raw, whole eggs. Unlike nogs, they don’t call for cream or milk. This rum-spiked smoothie is ultrathick without being overly rich. Serve in a tall glass with a garnish of frozen mango.
Yield: 2 drinks
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks, plus extra for garnishing
- 3/4 cup mango nectar
- 1/4 cup white rum. (Darker rums taste fine but muddy the lovely orange color.)
- 1 whole, free-range egg
- 4 ice cubes
Preparation
Into a blender, add the mango, mango nectar, rum, egg and ice cubes. Blend on high until smooth.
Pour into 2 glasses and garnish with some skewered fresh or frozen mango chunks.
Raspberry-Rose Ginny
The essence of rose is perfect with gin. Add raspberry and you’ve got an ode to springtime and summer. Adding egg white to this elegant cocktail makes it frothy and smooth. Gin runs the gamut of flavor profiles from juniper-forward to herbal to floral and melon.
Look for a gin with notes of rose petal, such as Hendrick’s from Scotland. Rose syrup is easy to make but can also be found in specialty food shops or online.
Yield: 2 drinks
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup gin
- 2 tablespoons rose syrup
- 1 tablespoon homemade seedless raspberry jelly or excellent quality store-bought
- 1 free-range egg white
Preparation
First make the rose syrup. Add 1⁄3 cup rosewater and 3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar to a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring up to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool. Transfer to a bottle or jar and refrigerate until ready to start bartending. Do this up to a couple of weeks before and store, covered, in the fridge. It needs to be cold when used in egg white cocktails.
For the cocktail: Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into 2 pretty martini or champagne glasses. Garnish with rose petals if you can find some organic ones!
Chocolate-Brandy Cream
If you enjoy that classic 1980s cocktail, the Brandy Alexander, you’ll love this chocolaty version. Rich, sweet, creamy and decadent, serve this after dinner instead of dessert. And speaking of dessert, drizzle a splash of this cocktail over dishes of vanilla ice cream for a grownup sundae. 
Yield: 2 to 4 drinks depending on size and type of glass
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1/4 cup dark crème de cacao liqueur or
coffee liqueur such as Kahlua - 1/4 cup white crème de cacao liqueur
- 1 whole free-range egg
- 1/4 cup 18% or table cream
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg or cocoa or shaved chocolate to garnish (optional)
Preparation
Add all ingredients except the nutmeg/cocoa to a blender with about 4 ice cubes and blend on high until smooth. Pour into glasses and garnish with a tiny sprinkle of nutmeg or cocoa or shaved chocolate, if desired.
Disclaimer: Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of food-borne illness, especially if you have a certain medical condition; are pregnant, elderly, very young; or have a compromised immune system. Before beginning a recipe, it’s recommended to do the necessary research and make appropriate food-handling decisions. You assume full responsibility for any food handling and cooking doneness decisions made regarding your own health and safety, and the health and safety of those consuming the recipes.
This article originally appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.
