Pink Lady – Even Men Can Enjoy It

Well, the first thing I have to say about this cocktail is that if drinking it makes me lady like then lady like I shall be.  The Pink Lady is another example of a tremendously tasty pink cocktail.  The pink color is quite light, somewhat akin to Pepto.  Thankfully the aroma and flavor don’t follow suit.  In the smell you’ll find a very pleasant hit of citrus and the gin peaking through lightly.  The flavor is a great balance of sweet and sour.  Interestingly the applejack doesn’t shine very strongly, but it’s flavor is missed if you remove it.

I sampled a few different recipes and found them to be very similar.  One interesting difference I encountered was the recipe in Diffords Guide #7.  This variant calls for more grenadine (1/2 oz) drops the lemon juice down (1/2 oz) and says the applejack (or apple brandy in this case) is optional.  I found this combination less balanced.  The drink was noticeably sweeter.  The other interesting twist that I found in my brief search was the recipe in The Savoy Cocktail Book.  This recipe called for only grenadine, gin and egg white.  I don’t think this version sounds particularly tasty without the lemon juice sourness.  Erik Ellestad over at Underhill Lounge actually gave the Savoy recipe a mix and found what I expected to be true.  It’s not a good combo.

If you’re going to mix up a Pink Lady go with the recipe from The Essential Bartender’s Guide.  If you go this route you definitely won’t be disappointed.  Naturally you’ll use fresh juice and good grenadine, so I’ll only mention those briefly.  Enjoy your drinks!