Egg Cream Recipe: The New York Soda Fountain Drink

Ingredients

1 oz chocolate syrup traditionally Fox's U-bet
2 oz whole milk
4 oz soda water very cold and strongly carbonated

Garnish: No garnish, only the foam head · Ice: Served up, no ice

Method

Chill a tall glass well.
Pour the chocolate syrup into the bottom of the glass.
Add the cold milk.
Pour the seltzer in a strong stream, holding a long spoon in the glass and stirring quickly so a thick white foam rises.
Serve at once, while the foam stands tall.

Watch it made

Egg Cream

Taste

Light, cold and fizzy chocolate milk with a soft, frothy head. Sweet but surprisingly refreshing, much lighter than a milkshake.

History and origin

The Egg Cream is a New York institution, linked above all to Brooklyn and the Lower East Side and to the Jewish candy stores and soda fountains of the early 20th century. Its exact origin is unknown. One frequently told story credits Louis Auster, who ran a candy shop on the Lower East Side, but it cannot be confirmed.

The name is also a mystery. Some say early versions contained egg and cream, others connect it to the Yiddish word echt, meaning real, or simply to the foam that looks like egg white. What New Yorkers agree on is the method: syrup first, then milk, then seltzer from a pressurised bottle, stirred fast, and Fox's U-bet chocolate syrup, made in Brooklyn.

Bartender tips

The seltzer must be as fizzy as possible. A freshly opened bottle or a soda siphon makes the best foam.
Some New Yorkers add milk and seltzer first, stir to build the foam, then pour the syrup in along the side so the head stays white.
Everything must be ice cold; an Egg Cream is served without ice.

Variations

Vanilla Egg Cream: Use vanilla syrup instead of chocolate syrup.
Chocolate Egg Cream with oat milk (twist): Replace the whole milk with a barista oat drink, which also foams well.