A flip in the truest sense: full-bodied oloroso sherry shaken hard with a whole egg and a touch of sugar until it pours silky and pale, its nutty, raisined depth softened into something close to a drinkable custard. The egg builds weight and a foamy crown without a drop of cream, and a dusting of nutmeg over the top gives every sip a warm, spiced aroma that suits the end of a meal.
Garnish: Grated Nutmeg
Shaken · Goblet · Up
add
Add the oloroso sherry, whole egg, and simple syrup to a shaker.
shake
Add ice and shake hard for 12–15 seconds to chill and emulsify the egg into a smooth, frothy texture.
strain
Double-strain into a chilled goblet, leaving the ice behind.
garnish
Grate fresh nutmeg over the foamy top.
No one invented the flip: it grew out of 17th-century taverns in colonial America, where ale, rum and sugar were heated by plunging a red-hot iron into the mug, and each tavern kept its own recipe. Over the following century and more it shed both the heat and the beer, and by the 1800s flips were being served cold, built on spirits or wine with a whole egg. Jerry Thomas set down the sherry version in his 1887 Bar-Tender's Guide — simply his Port Wine Flip with sherry poured in place of the port — recording a drink already in circulation rather than creating one.