“Egg White Out: Best Bars in Austin After a Break Up PLUS Protein-Enhanced Drink Recipe!”

This is a guest post from Julie Yost, head mixologist and Bar Manager over at Woodland. She’s all about old school, traditional cocktails, so we asked her to drop some bloggy goodness our way! Enjoy.

I just went through a really painful break up. For a few days, I couldn’t bring myself to eat. Just the sight of food made me nauseous. All I wanted was water. And alcohol. After a couple of days of grief, all I needed was a drink (or four). Not that I’m trying to promote the benefits of using alcohol as a crutch, but with this particular break up, I drank like I’d sprained my ankle.

So I have nothing in my belly and I am badly in need of a drink. A fairly common conundrum, and suddenly it hits me: protein cocktails! If I drink cocktails with egg white, I can take my mind off of things AND nourish my body.

When used properly in a cocktail, egg white will emulsify with acid and produce an incredibly frothy foamy head. Think Guinness, but better. It’s delicious and strangely comforting—especially when you want to cry every five minutes. Plus, The average egg white contains 4.7 grams of protein. Since most bars use about half an egg white per cocktail, that’s 2.3 grams of protein per drink!

At a recent bartenders contest in Austin, 11 out of 12 contestants had egg white in their drinks. While egg whites seem to be the next big thing in mixology, they’ve been emulsifying cocktails since the nineteenth century. Fizzes, flips, sours, and nogs all held eggs as an important ingredient. It was only with the paranoiac salmonella scares of the 70′s and 80′s that most bars took egg whites off their menus. With the recent explosion in artisan cocktails this delicious ingredient was bound to be included again.

As long as you trust the place that is serving it, you need not be afraid. It turns out that only about 1 egg in 20,000 is a carrier of the salmonella virus. If the whites are properly stored and handled, they greatly benefit many cocktails with very minimal risk. You are much more likely to injure yourself choking on said cocktail than being harmed by the egg. Plus, nothing is as slimming as salmonella!

So here is my abbreviated list of Austin Bars where you can drown your sorrows via a protein-enhanced cocktail:

1. Eastside Showroom: A lot has already been said about this place. If you want to read about service (or lack thereof) I suggest yelp. It must be said that they serve some damned fine cocktails though. The framboise flip was a little smaller than I would have liked, but it was delicious. They do a mean pisco sour with a little cayenne or chili powder on top that includes egg white as well. These drinks are expertly crafted and worth the wait. So wait.
2. Fino: I love the drinks here. They make their own bitters and craft their specialty drinks with love. I had the paloma flor which included tequila, grapefruit, and egg white and was absolutely perfect. Also if the cocktails happen to stimulate your appetite, they serve tapas.
3. Good Knight: Billy the bartender/owner doesn’t use egg white in his cocktails, but I couldn’t leave this place out. Truth be told, this is where I go when I’m down in the dumps. Its dark and moody, not too crowded, the staff is incredibly friendly and there is discernible lack of pretension. Andy the bartender made me a Good Knight PBJ which consisted of framboise, buffalo trace, and nutella walnut liqueur, which surely has protein in it, so it makes my list.
4. Highball: The new bowling/ karaoke/ swank joint from Alamo Drafthouse has specialty cocktails including the Silver Lining which consists of egg white, rye, lemon, and licor 43. It was too sweet for me and really would have been better if it had another ounce of whiskey in it, but bowling on their vintage lanes with friends and a full bar handy is a serious cure for the blues. Stick with your bourbon of choice on the rocks- which comes as a 2 ounce pour with a large and perfect sphere of ice floating in it, and bowl your little (broken) heart out.

In all, there are plenty of places around town to drown your sorrows in a break up cocktail. If you prefer to sob on your couch, here’s a little recipe for your own egg white cocktail. The Ramos gin fizz is a classic cocktail which contains both cream and egg white (protein AND vitamins!). It’s delicate, creamy, frothy, and in my opinion the absolute perfect cocktail to drink when burning your exes belongings in the backyard. Enjoy.

The Ramos Gin Fizz

1 ounce simple syrup

1/2 ounce lemon juice

1/2 ounce lime juice

1 1/2 ounces gin (Old Tom is traditional, i like Hendrick’s)

2 ounces cream

1 egg white

3-4 drops orange blossom water

Mix all above ingredients in a shaker and shake vigorously without ice for one minute, then add ice and shake for at least two more minutes. strain into a chilled glass and top with a splash of soda water. And repeat.

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