Pink Lady Recipe
A pink, foamy gin sour given depth by a measure of apple brandy and coloured with grenadine — drier and more serious than it looks.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Coupe glass
- ABV: 15%
- Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients
- Gin45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Calvados15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Fresh lemon juice22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Grenadine15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Egg white1 piece
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a shaker without ice and shake to build the foam.
- Add ice and shake again until well chilled.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a brandied cherry.
Garnish
Brandied cherry
What it tastes like
The citrus acidity leads, fruit notes come forward and it wears a foam cap.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A stemmed, shallow coupe. The stem keeps your hand's warmth away from the drink, and the wide bowl carries the aroma to your nose. Served without ice.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Gin
- London dry gin: juniper up front, citrus and coriander behind it. Brand really does show here — Beefeater is sharp, Hendrick's floral, Tanqueray juniper-heavy.
- Calvados
- Normandy's apple brandy. It is distilled from cider, not from juice, so it is dry and earthy rather than sweet — dry cider is not a substitute for it.
- Fresh lemon juice
- Freshly squeezed lemon; one lemon gives 30-40 ml. It can swap with lime, but lemon is softer and less aromatic, so use a touch more.
- Grenadine
- Pomegranate syrup. Most supermarket bottles are dyed corn syrup with no pomegranate in them; reducing pomegranate juice with an equal weight of sugar takes ten minutes and changes the drink completely.
- Egg white
- Egg white adds texture, not flavour. Shake it first without ice (a dry shake), then again with ice. The vegan swap is chickpea water, in the same quantity.
The Story
An American classic from the early 20th century, widely believed to take its name from a 1911 Broadway musical; it stayed popular through Prohibition and beyond.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Pink Lady mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a coupe.
- How strong is a Pink Lady?
- Roughly 15% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Pink Lady be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Pink Lady hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.