.jpg) | |
| Type | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Ingredients |
|
| Base spirit | Gin |
| Standard drinkware | Cocktail glass |
| Served | Straight up: chilled, without ice |
| Preparation | Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into large cocktail glass. |
White lady (also known as aDelilah,[1] orChelsea sidecar[1]) is a classic cocktail that is made withgin,Cointreau ortriple sec, fresh lemon juice and an optionalegg white.[2] It belongs to thesidecar family, made withgin in place ofbrandy. The cocktail sometimes also includes additional ingredients, for example egg white, sugar,cream, orcreme de menthe.[3]
The classic concoction is most commonly served in a martinicocktail glass. When an egg white is added achampagne coupe is preferable; the silky foam clings more pleasingly to the curved glass.
The original recipe for the white lady was devised byHarry MacElhone in 1919 at Ciro's Club in London. He originally usedcrème de menthe (specifically, Giffard's Menthe Pastille), but replaced it with gin atHarry's New York Bar in Paris in 1929.[4][2]
According to the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel, the drink was created there byHarry Craddock.[2]
A recipe for the white lady made with gin, Cointreau, and fresh lemon juice appears in theSavoy Cocktail Book, published in 1930.[5]Joe Gilmore, former Head Barman at The Savoy, says this was one ofLaurel and Hardy's favorite drinks.[6]
Early recipes like MacElhone's and Craddock's do not have egg white as one of the recorded ingredients.[2]
Whilesours are characterized by a bright acidity,sidecars are often drier, since they are made withliqueurs (in this caseCointreau) instead of sugar. Sidecars are considered more of a challenge for bartenders because the proportion of ingredients is more difficult to balance for liqueurs of variable sweetness.[7]
InJohn le Carré's 1965 novelThe Looking Glass War, the British spy, and main protagonist, Fred Leiser's favourite drink is a white lady and he makes several attempts to get other agents to try the cocktail.
It is mentioned in the novelIslands in the Stream byErnest Hemingway.[4]
It is also mentioned in the filmsInspector Hornleigh (1938) andIsle of Missing Men (1942). InThe Intelligence Men (1965),Eric Morecambe orders a White Lady from hotel room service, after the arrival of a lady dressed in white;Ernie Wise delivers the drink, posing as a member of staff.
A mock version of the drink is made in the Japanese manga seriesKaguya-sama: Love Is War.
InMolly Keane's 1981 novelGood Behaviour, Aroon St. Charles drinks white ladies with her brother Hubert and their friend Richard Massingham.
The White Lady is a favorite summer drink for lead character Phryne Fisher in multiple novels byKerry Greenwood in her series "Phryne Fisher Mysteries," which are set in late 1920's Australia. A recipe is included in Book 16: "Murder in the Dark."
In Agatha Christie's novel "By the Pricking of My Thumbs," a White Lady drink is offered to Tuppence Beresford by her husband Tommy, in Chapter 3: A Funeral.
