Cocktails To Wake Up To

Lest night owls have all the fun, this Daylight Savings weekend enjoy a well-deserved tipple on Sunday morning. The loss of an hour’s sleep may make it harder to be chipper at brunch, but a vivacious cocktail will help you stretch your mind beyond the confines of a 23-hour day.

Once upon a time it was not unheard of to have a morning cocktail—a so-called “eye opener” or “picker-upper.” While providing some essential vitamins and energy, a pre-noon drink can also provide gentle relief from the lingering effects of the previous evening’s folly. The Bloody Mary is perhaps the most famous eye-opener, but nothing beats a Fizz to help clear away the morning fog. The drink combines the zing and vigor of bubbly water with the flavor of robust spirits.

Here are two of my favorite recipes, which are so good you could make a whole weekend out of them. Start Sunday by shaking up a bracing Morning Glory Fizz or a luscious Ramos Gin Fizz, and you’ll forget about that hour you lost.

Ramos Gin Fizz/New Orleans Fizz

Contributed by: Allen Katz

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Gin
• 1 oz Fresh lemon juice
• .5 oz Fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 3 Dashes orange flower water
• .5 oz Heavy cream
• 1 Fresh egg white
• Seltzer
• Glass: Collins

PREPARATION:

The secret to this drink is to shake, shake and shake some more. Shake all the ingredients, except seltzer, vigorously with ice until the drink is as white as fresh snow and as smooth as a cold glass of milk. Strain into a Collins glass and top with cold seltzer. Stir before serving.

Morning Glory Fizz

Contributed by: Allen Katz

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 oz Blended Scotch whisky
• .75 oz Fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz Simple syrup (one part water, one part sugar)
• .25 oz Absinthe or Pastis
• 1 Fresh egg white
• 1.5 to 2 oz Seltzer
• Glass: Highball

PREPARATION:

Shake all the ingredients, except seltzer, vigorously with ice and strain into a highball glass. Top with 1.5 to 2 ounces of cold seltzer.

Allen Katz is the Director of Mixology & Spirits Education for Southern Wine & Spirits of New York and one of Liquor.com’s advisors.