I just happened to spy this recipe in the NYT Cooking app and its strangeness and beauty appealed to me.
Not to mention it's actually quite tasty and moreish.
The cocktail was created by restauranteur, Eamon Rockey, and was inspired by Natalie Portman's Oscar winning performance in Black Swan
For 2 cocktails
3 Tbsp cold dry red wine, steeped with the peel of one lemon, and a little sugar or simple syrup added
3oz Hendricks or gin of your choice
1 ½oz lemon juice
1oz triple sec (Cointreau or Dry Curaçao)
½ oz gum syrup
Or, simple syrup or agave syrup (I used the latter as I always have on hand)
1 egg white
Angostura bittters
Place gin, lemon juice, triple sec, syrup and egg whites in a cocktail shaker, NO ICE
Shake vigorously until egg white has generated of rich foam*
Pour into a couple of coupe glasses (No Ice)
Place a small funnel into glass until it touches bottom and carefully pour in half the strained cold wine mix. Gently pull the funnel out of the glass and the cold wine will settle below the warmer gin mixture 😱.
Place a few drops of Angostura bitters in a pattern on top of the egg white foam and use a cocktail pick or toothpick to drag the drops through the foam, making a cool design!
Et VoilÃ
*Egg White Notes
In addition to the complex layering, the perfection of the egg white froth on top has been a bit of a challenge, though I think maybe I've had my farm fresh eggs a tad too long. My first attempt went great and I was able to beautifully make the pattern with the drops of suspended Angostura bitters, but subsequent attempts failed and produced a thin foam that dissipated quickly.
Tricks to better egg whites include sieving the white to remove the thin watery content (also good advice for perfect poached eggs), or placing the egg whites in a cream charger, but they did come out rather too stiff (see photo).
But I would say not to worry as it should work fine with a fresh, local, organic eggs!