026 – White Lady

Sydney Covid ‘lock-down’ exploration of the ‘White Lady’ cocktail.

Lockdown has inspired me to explore this famous early 1900’s cocktail. Let’s take a look at the classic ‘White Lady’ cocktail, and explore some of the cocktail’s history and recipe construction.

Make your own Locktail, the ‘White Lady’. Here is my slightly tweaked Sydney Lock-Tail recipe:

METHOD – Pour 45ml Gin, 30ml Cointreau, 30ml fresh Lemon juice, 10ml Sugar Syrup (best to make your own with 2-parts sugar and 1-part water, heated until sugar dissolves and then chilled) and 10ml (about one-quarter) of a fresh egg white (preferably pasteurized) into a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice. Shake until cold (10-15 seconds), then dry shake (no ice for a further 10-15 seconds) and double strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Option to garnish with some lemon peel and/or float some lemon zest oil on the foam.

HISTORICAL NOTES – The ‘White Lady’ name first appears in 1919, for a cocktail created by Harry MacElhone (1890–1958) at ‘Ciro’s Club’ in London, for an equal mix of white crème de menthe, triple sec and lemon juice.

At some point between 1923 and 1929, MacElhone was making the ‘White Lady’ at his own ‘Harry’s New York Bar’ in Paris, with Gin instead of crème de menthe, in the manner that we know today. At around the same time, the Gin-based recipe appears in ‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’, 1930, by the famous Bartender and Author, Harry Craddock (1876–1963). Craddock claims the cocktail is his invention, and was created at ‘The Savoy Hotel’ and named in honour of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda.

It is hard to untangle the origins of these early cocktails, I guess the best that we can say for sure, is that the ‘White Lady’ was created by Harry*. The name may have originated with Harry MacElhone, the Gin-based mix is a mystery, and certainly, like the more than 700 other cocktails in The Savoy Cocktail Book, they owe a big slice of their longevity and historical survival to Harry Craddock’s masterpiece book. There is even meant to be a Harry Craddock made 1927 ‘White Lady’ cocktail, inside a cocktail-shaker, embedded in the walls of The Savoy, as a sort of ‘time capsule’, although it has never been found.

The ‘White Lady’ was also apparently very popular at The Savoy and a favorite of Laurel and Hardy. Neither MacElhone or Craddock used egg white, and it seems Peter (Giampiero) Dorelli (1940–), Head Bartender of The Savoy from 1984 to 2003, may have been the first to add the egg white, to make the ‘White Lady’ silkier and smoother (and for that matter – more white).

The ‘White Lady’ is part of the ‘sour’ family of cocktails (spirit, citrus and sugar), as well as ‘gin and juice’ cocktails. It is also known by many other names for essentially the same cocktail, including a Chelsea Sidecar, Delilah, Kiernander and Lillian Forever, among others.

THE OFFICIAL MIX – The ‘White Lady’ is one of only 33-cocktails on the International Bartender Association’s (IBA) ‘The Unforgettables’ list. You can find the IBA official recipe here, it calls for 40ml Gin, 30ml Triple Sec, 20ml fresh Lemon juice, shaken and strained into a chilled cocktail glass (no garnish).

TASTING NOTES – The ‘White Lady’ is a true classic. Both a ‘sour’ and a ‘gin and juice’ creation, it has simple elegance and balance. The sugar offsets the Lemon sourness, and this sits over the orange notes of the Cointreau and Gin botanicals (depending on your choice of Gin).

The addition, probably by Peter Dorelli of egg-white, which is supported by many contemporary mixologist trying to perfect the recipe, makes the mix both ‘whiter’ and ‘smoother’. Thanks to Simon Difford for the suggestion to ‘dry shake’ second, to protect and improve the cocktail’s foam. This came very close to 4-stars for me, and would be a perfect drink to match a lemon-cheesecake, lemon meringue, or for anyone who loves a balanced ‘sweet-lemon’ flavour.

LOCKTAIL CHANGES – The original is only Gin, Lemon and Triple Sec. I have included Peter Dorelli and Simon Difford’s suggestion of egg-white and simple-syrup, it certainly makes for a better balance and an aesthetic that suggests the ‘white lady’ name. I have also include some lemon zest oil (either in the mix or floated on the foam) to up the lemon just a little. I have also gone for the amazing Never Never Distillery – Southern Strength Gin. Not only does it have an alcohol weight of early 20th century gins, but the extra heat is a great addition to this cocktail that calls for a ‘juniper forward’ gin.

I have also gone for a slightly more ‘voluminous’ mix, that will fill-your-glass. At around 150ml with dilution from the ice, this should get close to the rim of a Martini glass, something that many of the official cocktails and ‘tight-ass’ bars fail to do. After all, at the end of the day if the flavour is good, then you want a drink not just a sip.

If sweet-lemon is your flavour profile, you will probably rate this cocktail higher than my 3.5-stars, and so you should, this is a first-class cocktail.

YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’.

Let me know what you think.

Cocktails you’d like reinvented.

Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.

This is the sixth of the 1911-1920 bracket of ‘Locktail’ remixes. See the full list in the index.