Rose Gin Fizz: how to use edible flowers in a drink
The short version: the egg white foam is what makes this drink worth garnishing. It gives you a surface, and a surface is the only thing dried petals need.
Most drinks swallow a flower. Drop petals onto a gin and tonic and they sink, get wet, and turn into something floating in your drink rather than sitting on it. A gin fizz is different, and it is the easiest place to start if you have never used edible flowers before.
Why the foam matters
Shaking egg white builds a dense layer of foam that sits on top of the drink and holds for several minutes. Dried petals are light enough to rest on it without breaking through, so they stay dry, keep their colour and hold their shape.
That is the whole trick. If a drink has foam, cream or a thick texture, petals will sit. If it is clear and thin, they will not.
Which flowers
Our dried edible florets come in four blends at $15.99 a pouch. Simply Blush is the one for this drink: soft pinks and whites that suit a rose and gin base without looking like a craft project.
A pouch lasts a long time because you are using a pinch at a time, somewhere in the range of 54 to 63 serves, and stored in an airtight pouch away from light and heat the florets keep for up to 24 months. They are dried, so unlike fresh flowers they are not on a clock from the moment you buy them.
How much to use
Less than you think. A pinch, dropped from a few centimetres above the glass so the petals scatter rather than land in a clump. You are aiming for the look of something that fell there, not a garnish arrangement.
Two or three petals on a small coupe is plenty. Covering the whole surface hides the drink, and the foam is part of what you are looking at.
The recipe
Ingredients (per serve)
- 60ml pink gin
- 25ml lemon juice
- 20ml sugar syrup or rose syrup
- 1 egg white
- F N Lemons Simply Blush dried edible florets
Method
- Combine the gin, lemon juice, syrup and egg white in a shaker with no ice, and shake for 10 to 15 seconds. This is the dry shake, and it is what builds the foam.
- Add ice and shake again for a further 15 to 20 seconds.
- Strain into a coupe glass and let the foam settle for a few seconds.
- Scatter a pinch of Simply Blush florets over the top.
Do not skip the first shake without ice. Ice from the start chills the egg white before it has a chance to aerate, and you end up with a thin drink and nowhere for the petals to sit.
Where else petals work
Anything with foam, cream or body: an espresso martini, a whisky sour, a Pina Colada. They also work on cakes, desserts and cheeseboards, which is what most of our florets actually get bought for.
Everything we make is handcrafted in small batches here in the Waikato, using real fruit and natural ingredients. Browse the edible florets, with free shipping on orders over $100.