Despite its pretty appearance, the Pink Lady is a potent cocktail that’s more dry than sweet. It’s also easy to craft at home with just a few ingredients.
We were pleased as punch once we discovered the Pink Lady cocktail. A less acidic version of the Clover Club, the Pink Lady is pleasantl pink, easy to craft and just the right level of sweet.
Be aware that the Pink Lady is as strong as a martini. But, since it’s pink, it’s more fun to drink.
Pink Lady Cocktail History
The Pink Lady will sound familiar to Generation X’ers like us who grew up singing along with the Pink Ladies in Grease. We’d love to say the the drink and movie are related; however, the classic cocktail predates the musical movie by quite a few decades.
We’d also love to share a juicy story about how and where the drink was invented but there isn’t one that we can verify. While drink historians trace the Pink Lady back to the early 20th century, there’s no definitive origin story for this particular pre-prohibition cocktail.
After we show you how to craft this pink-hued sour cocktail, it’s up to you to create your own Pink Lady story. Consider it a blank slate. Or, in this case, a pink slate.
Ingredients
The Pink Lady fits our cocktail sweet spot with a short list of ingredients that can be counted on one hand. These are the only required ingredients:
Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.
Beyond its short list of ingredients that you probably already have in your home bar, the Pink Lady has an equally short list of required bar tools. You probably have them too. All you need is a cocktail shaker, jigger and measuring spoon.
How to Craft a Pink Lady Cocktail
If you have five minutes then you have enough time to craft a Pink Lady cocktail from scratch. Our recipe is that fast and easy.
The first step is to measure two ounces of gin. We recommend using a cocktail jigger for this step.
Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you need a jigger or want an inexpensive upgrade. That’s what we did.
The second step is to measure a 1/2 teaspoon of grenadine. In this recipe, a little bit of grenadine goes a long way.
The third step is to separate an egg white. We’re comfortable with using a raw egg white. You can use a pasteurized egg white instead if you’re concerned about ingesting raw eggs.
Discover more cocktails with egg white to craft at home.
Now comes the fun. It’s time to shake things up two different ways…
First comes a dry shake without ice to combine the ingredients and emulsify the egg white. After adding ice, more shaking ensues.
Voila. After shaking two ways, all that’s left is straining the cocktail into a small martini glass and adding a maraschino cherry or three. We like to skewer our cherries on a silver cocktail pick but the pick isn’t mandatory.
Last, we splash a bit of maraschino cherry syrup into our Pink Lady cocktail. Even though we’re not into ‘girly’ sweet drinks, the original Pink Lady recipe is a bit flat for our personal tastes and the cherry syrup adds a fruity, acidic zip.
Variations
The ingredients in our Pink Lady drink recipe honor the original recipe and the one that appeared in the 1937 Cafe Royal Cocktail Book. However, you may want to mix things up by trying one of the following variations:
Discover 10 essential bar tools for the home mixologist.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Pink Lady cocktail is a pink pre-prohibition cocktail crafted with gin, grenadine syrup and an egg white.
Dry Gin, Grenadine Syrup, Egg White, Maraschino Cherries (garnish) and Ice (for shaking)
Grenadine syrup adds both color and sweetness to the Pink Lady Cocktail.
You should use your favorite gin in this cocktail recipe. We typically use Citadelle gin but any dry gin will work just fine.
No. You can replace the egg white with pasteurized egg white or aquafaba if you’re concerned about ingesting raw eggs.
The Pink Lady is shaken, not stirred.
We like to serve this cocktail in a small martini glass but you could use a coupe glass instead.
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Combine gin, grenadine and egg white in a shaker.
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Shake vigorously until ingredients are mixed and egg white emulsifies.
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Add several ice cubes and shake again until the liquid is chilled.
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Strain into a small martini glass.
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Add a maraschino cherry as garnish and splash a bit of cherry syrup into the cocktail.
- You can omit the egg white if you’re a vegan or if you’re uncomfortable with ingesting raw eggs.
- Feel free to add additional maraschino cherries. We sometimes put three on a silver cocktail pick.
- You can use a coupe glass if you don’t have a small martini glass.
