Chicago Fizz

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (12 ratings)

Photographed in a Libbey Highball 9oz

Ingredients:
1 oz Dark/black/blackstrap rum
1 oz Cockburn's Tawny Eyes Port
12 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
14 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
12 oz Egg white
1 oz Thomas Henry Soda Water
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Highball (max 10oz/300ml) glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of quarter lemon slice wheel.
  3. SHAKE first 5 ingredients with ice and strain back into the shaker.
  4. DRY SHAKE (without ice) to emulsify.
  5. Slowly POUR 2/3rds of the shaker's contents from a higher-than-normal height into chilled glass (no ice in the glass) while simultaneously pouring soda with your other hand. The cocktail and soda should form a single stream of liquid falling into the glass.
  6. As when pouring Guinness, to achieve a perfect head on a fizz, the cocktail should be left to settle for at least a minute before topping off with what remains in the shaker. Ideally, during the settling period, the glass should be placed in a glass froster/fridge/freezer. As the final contents of the shaker are poured into the glass, the head should rise like a souffle.
  7. Garnish with quarter lemon wheel on rim.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 5/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
Cocktail of the day:

3rd December 2025 is Illinois' statehood

Review:

Rum character shines, distinguishing this from lesser fizzes.

View readers' comments

History:

The Chicago Fizz first appears in Jacques Straub's 1914 book Drinks.

Chicago Fizz
Juice of ½ a lemon.
1 barspoon of sugar.
½ jigger Jamaica rum.
½ jigger port wine.
1 white of egg
Shake, strain. Fill glass with siphon.

Jacques Straub, Drinks, 1924

In his 1931 Old Waldorf Bar Days book, Albert Stevens Crockett says that at New York's pre-Prohibition Waldorf-Astoria bar, this classic was "an importation from the Windy City", hence its name. Since Prohibition, it has been somewhat forgotten.

CHICAGO FIZZ
An importation from the Windy City long before bombs, machine guns and sawed-off shotguns had come to disturb its peaceful life.
(lemonade)
Juice one-fourth Lemon
One-half spoon Sugar
White of one Egg
One-half jigger Jamaica Rum
One-half jigger Port Wine
Shake; strain; fill from siphon

Albert Stevens Crockett, Old Waldorf Bar Days, 1931

Nutrition:

One serving of Chicago Fizz contains 150 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 0.9 standard drinks
  • 10.21% alc./vol. (10.21° proof)
  • 13 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Peter Hodge’s Avatar Peter Hodge
4th December 2024 at 20:28
It was okay, port was a bit lost really, maybe a LBV might give a little more oomph. Rum sour it is really!
18th June 2023 at 19:09
Made this with Mauritian amber rum and Pedro Ximenez. Dropped the sugar syrup. Dangerously good.
Chris Dimal’s Avatar Chris Dimal
21st May 2023 at 18:45
Completely different colour than the picture, with it taking a nice dark magenta/pink colour, just like a lot of internet pictures. Nice taste though, with pungent, caramel notes of the dark rum coming through alongside the fruitiness of the Port. I used aquafaba, which does mean the foam is not as regal as an egg white.