Some of hospitality’s most beloved creations were born not in restaurants, but in hotel bars, kitchens, and in grand dining rooms.
The Signature Sips & Bites series celebrates the drinks and dishes that originated in and became inseparable from a historic hotel. Along the way we’ll tell the story of the bartenders, chefs, and properties that helped usher in these cultural icons.
The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans owes part of its legend to a drink it didn’t invent – but saved.
Meet the Ramos Gin Fizz, a cloud-white cocktail that has taken up a permanent home at the Roosevelt’s Sazerac Bar and played a notable role in the transformation of New Orleans hospitality.
The Creator
The story of the Ramos Gin Fizz begins at a saloon across town from the Roosevelt. It was 1888 and Henry Charles Ramos was tinkering with a new recipe.
His creation married gin with an unlikely combination: heavy cream, egg white, lemon and lime juices, powdered sugar, and most crucially of all, orange flower water.
Ramos called it “One And Only One.” The public called it by his name.
The Spectacle
The cocktail itself was well received, but it was the spectacle that led to a whole new level of popularity. In order to achieve the drink’s signature white foam, relentless shaking was necessary.
On this front, Ramos was quite particular: he insisted on twelve minutes of continuous shaking.
In the 1910s, demand was so high for the drink that Ramos employed twenty bartenders who would work in relay lines, passing the shaker down the bar after their 2-minute turn of shaking. This sight alone was a major draw to the New Orleans establishment.
Then Prohibition arrived at midnight on October 27, 1919. Ramos, the temperance-minded man that he was, immediately closed the doors of his saloon and never sold another drink.
The Roosevelt Hotel Stakes its Claim
Over on what is now Roosevelt Way, another iconic piece of New Orleans was coming into its own. Originally opened in 1893 as The Hotel Grunewald, it was Louisiana’s tallest building when the fourteen-story annex was completed.
In 1923 new owners renamed it The Roosevelt Hotel, in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, whose Panama Canal project was credited with bringing much prosperity to New Orleans.
With Prohibition’s repeal in 1933, the hotel saw a unique opportunity to bring back the legendary Ramos Gin Fizz. Upon purchasing the trademark rights to the drink from the inventers son, the hotel became the cocktail’s official custodian.
The Ramos Gin Fizz Legacy Lives on in the Sazerac Bar
Hotel Katrina shuttered the Roosevelt in 2005. Fortunately, the historic Sazerac Bar survived intact. Four years and $170 million dollars of restoration later and the hotel reopened in 2009 as The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Named numerous times the #1 Hotel Bar in America by USA Today, this world class hotel with a world class bar still serves as the spiritual home of the Ramos Gin Fizz.
The only change to the 100+ year old experience is that the modern technique known as the “dry shake” method has trimmed Ramos’s twelve minutes to three.
Those long-time fans and new converts of the cocktail all learn that good things come to those who wait.
Ramos Gin Fizz
The Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans
Ingredients
- 2 oz gin
- 1 fresh egg white
- 0.5 oz lemon juice
- 0.5 oz lime juice
- 0.75 oz simple syrup
- 0.75 oz heavy cream
- 3 dashes orange flower water
- 2 oz soda water
Preparation
Sources
“The Roosevelt New Orleans.” therooseveltneworleans.com
“Ramos Gin Fizz.” Difford’s Guide. diffordsguide.com
“Ramos Gin Fizz.” The Sazerac House. sazerachouse.com