White Lady

Ah, my dear congregation of cocktail aficionados, today we shall summon forth a beverage as elegant and enigmatic as my turn as Vivien Blake in “The Crows Have Eyes II: The Crowening.” We are concocting the White Lady, a potion as refined and resplendent as a gown from one of my première Galas, a libation that whispers of old Hollywood glamour and clandestine rendezvous in moonlit gardens.

Ingredients

• 2 oz (60 ml) gin, as complex and compelling as Moira Rose’s most nuanced performances
• 1/2 oz (15 ml) Cointreau, the citrus embrace, a tender kiss on the nape of your neck
• 1 oz (30 ml) fresh lemon juice, the zesty spark of life, as invigorating as Alexis’s escapades
• 1 egg white (optional), for a froth as luxurious as the feathers on my favorite fascinator
• Ice, the unyielding foundation upon which we build our dreams
• A spiral of lemon zest or a cherry, for garnish, the final, flamboyant flourish on our masterpiece

Directions

1. In a shaker, as tempestuous as a Rose family dinner, combine the gin, Cointreau, and lemon juice, each ingredient a star in its own right, yearning for the spotlight.
2. Should you choose to embrace the egg white, add it now, a symbol of transformation, whisking our concoction from the mundane to the magnificent.
3. Add ice, as we would add tension to a scene, and shake vigorously, the shaker a maraca in the hands of a passionate percussionist.
4. Strain into a chilled glass, as pristine and inviting as the Rosebud Motel after a good dusting.
5. Garnish with a lemon zest spiral or a cherry, as I would accessorize an outfit for the Herb Ertlinger Fruit Wine commercial.

Tips

• Select a gin with botanicals as diverse and surprising as the twists and turns of “Sunrise Bay.”
• The addition of egg white is akin to adding a feather to one’s cap, not essential but delightfully transformative.

Calories & Alcohol

In our denouement, my beloved coterie of mixology mavens, the White Lady is not merely a cocktail; it is an ode to the grace and complexities of femininity, a nod to the silent strength and radiant allure that dwells within.

As we curtain close on this ode to elegance, let it be known that this vessel of virtuosity contains approximately 200 calories, with an alcohol content that sashays across the palate at about 1.6 standard drinks (2.8 AUD). A modest tribute to the transcendent beauty of the White Lady.