White Lady Cocktail Recipe: How to Make a White Lady

The White Lady cocktail is a smooth, citrusy and sophisticated cocktail drink. It is made of gin, Cointreau, and sugar syrup. The White Lady Cocktail is the gin version of the Sidecar cocktail. This is a classy drink which is perfect to sip on during a night out.  

The White Lady Cocktail was first invented by a bartender from London’s Ciro’s Club, in 1919. Harry MacElhone used crème de menthe, triple sec, and lemon as the original ingredients in the cocktail. However, this version only lasted for a decade and was later changed soon after World War I. In 1929, MacElhone was working in the New York Bar, Paris and decided to change the ingredients of the White Lady Cocktail to gin, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. This recipe hit just the right note by merging sweet orange with tart citrus. It is unknown why MacElhone changed the recipe, but up until this day, the gin, orange liqueur, and lemon juice are the ingredients used to create the classic White Lady cocktail. The White Lady has a citrusy and sour taste, so it is best recommended for people who don’t mind a blast of these flavours in their drinks.

What are the ingredients for a White Lady?

Listed below are the ingredients for a White Lady Cocktail.

• 40 ml gin: Gin is a type of spirit liquor which is originally made from juniper berries. It is colourless and has a pine-like taste.
• 20 ml Cointreau: Cointreau is an orange-flavoured liqueur. It is consumed as an apéritif or digestif.
• 30 ml fresh lemon juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice. It is commonly consumed as a beverage.
• 10 ml sugar syrup: Sugar is dissolved in water. One half part sugar and one half part water.

1. 40ml gin

The White Lady cocktail calls for 40ml of gin. Gin is the main base for the White Lady cocktail. Gin is a distilled spirit which is made from juniper berries. It provides a pine-like flavour to the drink because of the juniper berries. Furthermore, it usually has 40% alcohol by volume and 64 calories. Tanqueray gin is the best gin to use for the White Lady cocktail. This brand has a perfect combination of citrus and juniper berries.

2. 20ml Cointreau

The White Lady cocktail also needs 20ml of Cointreau to come together. Cointreau is an orange-flavoured triple sec liqueur. It is colourless and gives the White Lady cocktail its citrus taste. Furthermore, it has 40% alcohol by volume and 95 calories. Cointreau is the best orange liqueur to use when making a White Lady cocktail.

3. 30ml fresh lemon juice

The White Lady cocktail needs 30ml of fresh lemon juice. It gives a sour and citrus flavour to the cocktail. Fresh lemon juice does not have alcohol content, but it does have 22 calories.

4. 10ml sugar syrup

The White Lady cocktail requires 10ml of sugar syrup. Sugar syrup is one half part sugar and one half part water. The sugar syrup does not have alcohol content, but it does have 34 calories.

How to make a White Lady?

Preparing a White Lady has never been easier thanks to this recipe, so don't miss it and make the most out of your cocktail!

1. Pour all the ingredients into a shaker and shake.
2. Fine strain into a chilled martini or coupe glass.
3. Garnish with a lemon twist.

1. Pour all the ingredients into a shaker and shake.

In a cocktail shaker, mix the 40ml gin, 20ml Cointreau, 30ml fresh lemon juice, and 10ml sugar syrup. Shake to ensure the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. This is the most important step because it ensures that the balance is properly mixed..

2. Fine strain into a chilled martini or coupe glass.

Grab a strainer and strain the mixture. Pour the mixture into a chilled martini or coupe glass. This step is necessary to ensure that there are no unwanted substances mixed into the cocktail at the pouring stage.

3. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Lastly is the garnish. Take a lemon peel, peel it, and twist it into a spiral. Put it on the side of the glass. This step is necessary to make the cocktail look beautiful and neat.

What nutritional benefit can you get from drinking a White Lady?

There are no nutritional benefits from drinking a White Lady cocktail. It does have 19% alcohol by volume and 193 calories per serving.

What are the different variations of White Lady?

There are multiple variations of the classic White Lady cocktail, including the Winter White Lady, Pink Lady, Delilah cocktail, and the Clover Leaf cocktail. To variate a classic White Lady cocktail drink, the bartender should change some ingredients. The procedure of making the variation of White Lady is just the same as making the classic one. Instead of gin, the bartender could use vodka. Vodka is a stronger spirit than gin. Some similar drinks to White Lady are Screwdriver, Cosmopolitan, Kamikaze, Vodka Sunrise, Orange Dreamsicle, Orange Martini, Vodka Gimlet, Vodka Tonic, Vodka Sour, Lemon Drop Martini, and French 75.