Fourth of July Cocktail: The Fireworks Fizz

A festive gin fizz is perfect for a Fourth of July cocktail!

Serves: 1

Difficulty: Medium

Special Tools: Cocktail shaker, Fine mesh strainer

Inspiration

Fireworks Fizz

Made by Evan Rothrock

The Fourth of July is one of Suzanne’s favorite holidays… so when it came time to celebrate recently, she wanted a festive, fun Fourth of July cocktail that screamed red, white, and blue. Evan was up for the challenge!

This cocktail takes a classic gin fizz and jazzes it up a bit with strawberry purée and blue razz Pop Rocks from our childhood (sadly, we couldn’t find any craft version of this, haha). The texture combination of the creamy egg white froth with the explosions of the Pop Rocks is quite the experience, it’s like a sweet-tart firework in your mouth! Happy Fourth!

If you love this cocktail, check out more of our favorite cocktails here and on our YouTube cocktails playlist.

Let’s Get Shakin’

Ingredients

1 oz strawberry purée (just de-stem strawberries and throw in the blender)

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1/4 oz simple syrup (1 to 1 sugar to water)

2 egg whites or 1 oz aquafaba

2 oz District Made gin

1-2 oz soda water

2-3 drops of bitters

1 packet of blue razz Pop Rocks

Steps

Prepare your glass. Wet the rim of your glass with a lemon half and gently sprinkle the Pop Rock on the rim over a bowl. If you’re having trouble getting them to stick, see our pro tips for working with Pop Rocks below!
Add all the other ingredients to a cocktail shaker and give a vigorous 30 sec shake WITHOUT ICE. Hold shaker closed tightly. As the egg whites proteins unfold to make the foam, it creates pressure. If you feel the lid loosening, pause, gently release the pressure and resume.
Next, add the ice and vigorously shake again for 20 sec.
Promptly strain through a fine mesh strainer into the prepared glass.
Add about 1oz soda water to the shaker tin and swirl it around to get the rest of that foam into your glass!
Add a few dashes of bitters on top – anything complimentary or contrasting with strawberry is great!
Take a sip and celebrate… this Fourth of July cocktail creates fireworks in your mouth!

Pro-tips for working with Pop Rocks!

Don’t pour the Pop Rocks out into a bowl or plate as you normally would when rimming. They will start absorbing moisture and get clumpy and gross. Instead, once you wet the rim of the glass, pour them directly from the packet onto the rim over a bowl.
Try crushing up the Pop Rocks a bit. Smaller pieces stick a bit better to the glass. Just crunch the packet in your hands a few times.
If you’re still having trouble getting them to stick, try substituting simple syrup for the lemon juice on the edge of the glass. They’ll definitely stick once you do that, but you’ll have to kind of bite them off the glass since they’ll stick on so well.

Also – feel free to mix things up and substitute whiskey for the gin for a deeper, equally delicious drink!

Suzanne making a sour face wondering if she'll like this cocktail

But will I like it?

Cocktail flavor profile

Getting to know your palate, what you like, and what you don’t like is a critical part of being a great craft tippler AND key to becoming a great home bartender as well!

So before you break out that barware and buy the key ingredients, here’s a little guidance on what to expect from this cocktail so you can start to hone in on exactly what elements of cocktails you enjoy and which you’d prefer to minimize. This helps you order new cocktails you love when you’re out on the town better as well!