Chicago Fizz Cocktail

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                                Chicago Fizz Cocktail

The Chicago Fizz is a pre-Prohibition cocktail that has been somewhat forgotten.  Written in Jaques Straub’s 1914 Drinks, it was well known at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.  Sadly, I had never tasted it prior to writing this article but it is honestly one of the most delicious fizzes I have had! We know that the Chicago Fizz originated in the Windy City and made its way to the Big Apple, but that is about it.  

A Fizz, by definition, is a cocktail made with citrus juice and carbonated water.  Some Fizzes add egg white (the Silver Fizz, and the iconic Ramos Gin Fizz), while some use just the egg yolk (Golden Fizz).   There is even one incorporating a whole egg, called a Royal Fizz. The majority of fizzes are made with gin, which makes the Chicago Fizz all the more unique.   Another distinctive trait of the Fizz family is that most of them are served chilled and without ice.   

The Chicago Fizz is a very sophisticated cocktail made with ruby port and dark rum.  The rich dried fruit/red wine flavors of the port combined with the complexity of dark rum give this cocktail many layers of flavor. Make sure you use ruby port and not Tawny.  Some of the recipes I found call for Blackstrap rum but I think it overpowers the port, so I would suggest an aged rum.  I used Flor de Caña 12 and it was perfect.   As with most cocktails you find in books and internet searches, there are slight differences in quantities and sometimes even ingredients.   I tried a number of different variations and found the following recipe to be the most balanced of them all.  

Chicago Fizz

  • 1 oz. Aged Rum
  • 1 oz. Ruby Port 
  • ½ oz. Simple Syrup
  • 1 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1 Egg White
  1. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and DRY shake (with no ice) vigorously for 10 seconds.   Open up your shaker, add ice, and shake vigorously for 30 seconds.  
  2. The reason for dry shaking first is to start the egg frothing process without over diluting the cocktail. Be sure that your shaker is sealed really well when shaking with egg white, it builds up pressure and I can’t tell you how many times I have worn an entire shaker of spirits and egg all over my shirt.
  3. Strain into a tall Collins glass with no ice and slowly pour in club soda.   As you pour, the “head” will start to rise up out of the glass.   There is an art to this technique, so don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t look perfect the first time.

Enjoy!!