Brandy Flip

In The Speakeasies of 1932, this drink is proffered by Tommy the bartender at Julius’ in Greenwich Village, 159 W. 10th Street, which Al Hirschfeld described as “A madhouse without keepers.” By the time Hirschfeld visited the place, it had been closed and padlocked four times. There are many variations on this drink, including those which substitute whole cream for the egg yolk and others which use the whole egg. This was the recipe in The Speakeasies of 1932:

• Yolk of fresh egg
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 glass of brandy
• Dash of nutmeg

Preparation: Shake well, strain into small wine glass, and grate nutmeg on top.

Cultural Context: The first bar guide to feature a flip (and to add eggs to the list of ingredients) was Jerry Thomas’s 1862 How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon-Vivant's Companion. In this work, Thomas declares that, "The essential in flips of all sorts is to produce the smoothness by repeated pouring back and forward between two vessels and beating up the eggs well in the first instance the sweetening and spices according to taste.