Great Expectations: The Cocktail

I finished Great Expectations last week on a flight back from DC. It was a real Neverending Story kind of moment: I’m at the big scene, Pip is pouring his heart out to Estella, all the Dickensian shit is hitting the fan, and our plane is dodging through some stomach-churning turbulence. His world was ending, my world was ending—it was a great way to wrap up the book.

It was an amazing read, albeit loaded with frustrating decision-making. Dickens didn’t call it Great Expectations for nothing: Pip spends the whole book expecting amazing things to happen to him, for his destiny to magically unfold. And boy does it ever. The amazing part is, even though I cringed at Pip’s choices, I was still rooting for him. Dickens had me reading with hope, a pretty neat trick.

A Literary Cocktail Recipe

Halfway through the book, Dickens mentions a beer-based cocktail called a “Flip.” I went and did some digging…apparently there were a number of ways to make a Flip back in the 1760′s, all involving some combination of eggs, sugar, cream, spices, molasses, and sometimes pumpkin. They would throw all that stuff into a mug and scald the mixture with a hot poker from the fireplace. So cool.

Iron pokers were also called loggerheads, and apparently the expression “at loggerheads,” comes from people getting into bar fights after drinking too many Flips.

So naturally, I had to try and make one. Here’s the recipe I used:

Dickensian Ale Flip

Ale Flip

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 oz brandy. I used E & J, with good results.
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 12 oz ale, something fairly straightforward, no fancy flavored beer
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
  1. Beat the egg yolk and the brandy together in a small bowl.
  2. Heat the lemon juice with a few spoonfuls of the ale, the ginger and the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, until the sugar dissolves.
  3. Add lemon juice mixture into the bowl, and beat together. Transfer to a beer mug.
  4. Add the rest of the ale, stir well, and serve.

It’s delicious—it’s like beer turned into a dessert, great for serving with a slice of cake. I wish I had one or two on that plane ride…

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