Egg Yolk
The yellow centre of a hen’s egg, used in flips and eggnog for fat and a custard body rather than foam. Lecithin in the yolk binds the spirit, sugar and dairy into a smooth, opaque drink. Our Porto Flip takes 10ml, about half a large yolk, and our Eggnog one whole yolk, whisked pale with the syrup first.
Quick Facts
In the shell, refrigerated, until needed; a separated yolk covered and used the same day.
Contains: eggs.
About Egg Yolk
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Custard without the cooking: yolk emulsifies a drink into velvet, carrying sweetness and spice the way cream does but rounder.
Fat and lecithin make the custard
The yolk is about a third fat and carries lecithin, an emulsifier that holds fat and water together. Shaken hard with a spirit and sugar, it binds them into a smooth, opaque drink with a body close to thin custard. It does the work cream does in other drinks, but rounder, and it brings no foam: that is the white.
Flips take it alone; eggnog takes it with dairy
The Porto Flip measures 10ml of yolk with port and brandy and keeps the white out. The Eggnog whisks one yolk pale with the syrup, then shakes it with brandy, dark rum, whole milk, cream and the white for a lighter, longer drink. Both finish with nutmeg.
How much egg, and which part, by drink style
Yolk flip (our Porto Flip)
- Egg
- 10ml yolk, no white
- Dairy
- None
- Texture
- Smooth and opaque
Whole-egg flip
- Egg
- One egg, white and yolk
- Dairy
- None
- Texture
- Paler, with some froth
Eggnog (ours)
- Egg
- One yolk and one white
- Dairy
- Whole milk and cream
- Texture
- Rich but pourable
Sour
- Egg
- White only, 15ml
- Dairy
- None
- Texture
- Foam over a sharp drink
| Style | Egg | Dairy | Texture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yolk flip (our Porto Flip) | 10ml yolk, no white | None | Smooth and opaque |
| Whole-egg flip | One egg, white and yolk | None | Paler, with some froth |
| Eggnog (ours) | One yolk and one white | Whole milk and cream | Rich but pourable |
| Sour | White only, 15ml | None | Foam over a sharp drink |
Shake it longer dry
Dry shake for 10 to 15 seconds so the yolk emulsifies, then add cubed ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds and strain into a small glass. A thin, faintly eggy drink means the yolk was not fully worked in; the cure is more time in the dry shake, not more nutmeg.
Raw yolk, by FSA advice
Following the Food Standards Agency, eggs with the British Lion mark are safe to eat raw or lightly cooked, including for vulnerable groups and in pregnancy. Pasteurised egg in a carton is the alternative. The advice does not cover anyone severely immunocompromised on a medically supervised diet. Eating out, where the mark cannot be checked, the FSA advises vulnerable people to have their eggs thoroughly cooked. Whichever egg is used, the drink still contains egg for anyone with an allergy.
Using Egg Yolk
Usage
Measure 10ml for a Porto Flip, or use one yolk whisked with the syrup for an Eggnog. Dry shake for 10 to 15 seconds, shake with ice for 10 to 12, strain into a small glass and grate nutmeg over the top.
Pro Tip
If a flip arrives thin and faintly eggy, the yolk was not fully emulsified. Shake longer dry, not harder with ice.
Top Tips
- Keep the white out of a yolk-only flip. White foams and breaks up the smooth surface.
- Whisk the yolk with the syrup before anything else goes in, so it is smooth before the spirit meets it.
- Grate the nutmeg fresh over the finished drink. Ground nutmeg from a jar tastes dusty.
- Use eggs from the fridge and well within date. A raw yolk has nowhere to hide.
Possible Substitutions
History & Context
The Oxford Companion says “flip” was first printed in the 1690s, defined in England as a sea drink of small beer and brandy, and that in colonial America ale, spirit and sweetener were heated by plunging in a red-hot iron. Jerry Thomas’s 1862 rum flip still warmed ale and beaten eggs; the Companion dates the cold, shaken whole-egg flip to 1874, and Simmons’s The American Bar-Tender of that year gives a Brandy Flip as one egg beaten very thin, a teaspoon of sugar and a glass of brandy, mixed with fine ice, strained into a small glass with nutmeg on top.
More to explore
Common Questions
Is raw egg yolk safe in drinks?
What does egg yolk do in a cocktail?
What is a flip?
How much egg yolk goes in a flip?
Do you dry shake egg yolk?
Can I use a whole egg instead of just the yolk?
How long does a separated egg yolk keep?
Sources.
Correct as of 20 October 2026.
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Wayne Curtis), “flip” (secondary source: first in print in the 1690s; the colonial loggerhead flip; Thomas 1862; the shaken whole-egg flip first documented in 1874).
- Internet Archive (E. A. Simmons), “The American Bar-Tender, or The Art and Mystery of Mixing Drinks (1874), Brandy Flip” (scanned reproduction: Brandy Flip, 1 egg beaten very thin, 1 teaspoonful of sugar, 1 glass of brandy, mixed with fine ice, strained into a small glass, nutmeg on top).
Made with Egg Yolk
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Often Used With
Guide by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 20 October 2026