The Classic Egg Cream

You’ve heard of Coca-Cola, you’ve heard of Pepsi, but have you heard of an Egg Cream?

Some of the first flavored, carbonated beverages were developed in pharmacies in the mid nineteenth century, in fact, the first sodas or pops, such as Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper, were originally sold in pharmacies. One of New York City’s most famous carbonated inventions is the Egg Cream, which is believed to have been invented by Jewish immigrants and first served in Brooklyn.

If this is your first time hearing about this beverage, you may be skeptical like I was, as the name suggests the presence of eggs, however, it contains neither eggs nor cream. In actuality, this beverage only consists of three, simple ingredients: seltzer, milk (whole milk is recommended), and a flavored syrup (typically chocolate). The reason that this beverage was given its unusual name is unknown, though there are many speculations.

The Egg Cream that I featured is technically a version that is known as the Flatbush, named after Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn; the only difference between an Egg Cream and a Flatbush, besides a minor variation in preparation, is the inclusion of a scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream on the rim of the glass.

In today’s world, if we wish to have a carbonated beverage, we generally buy a package of one or two dozen cans that we can enjoy at any time, but more than a century ago, people needed to go to a pharmacy and order a beverage each time they wanted one; some carbonated beverages were bottled, but Egg Creams are always best when handcrafted and served fresh as their iconic froth is lost in the bottling process.

Brooklyn Egg Cream Vs. Manhattan Egg Cream

There are several version of the Egg Cream, but the most classic version is the Brooklyn Egg Cream, which consists of seltzer, milk, and chocolate syrup. Every experienced soda jerk will urge you to exclusively use Fox’s U-Bet Chocolate Syrup as it is the most classic and apparently the best syrup for an Egg Cream. Truthfully, I have not yet tried Fox’s U-Bet syrup, but I have found Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup to be satisfactory, I particularly enjoy Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Syrup. It should be noted that while Hershey’s syrup is significantly cheaper, Fox’s U-Bet syrup is likely to be much higher quality.

The other classic version of the Egg Cream is named after Brooklyn’s neighboring borough of Manhattan: the Manhattan Egg Cream. This version is exactly the same as the Brooklyn Egg Cream, except that the chocolate syrup is replaced with Fox’s U-Bet Vanilla Syrup.

Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain

There is a business in Brooklyn on a corner near the intersection of Henry Street and Sackett Street called Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain, where you can order Egg Creams and other delicious desserts and handcrafted sodas. Brooklyn Farmacy also sells a book called The Soda Fountain with recipes for Floats, Sundaes, Egg Creams, and other favorites of the Brooklyn Farmacy.

Have you had an Egg Cream before? If so, was it the Brooklyn or the Manhattan style?

Onward American 🇺🇸

Source: Pharmacists’ Invention of the Soda Fountain

Source: Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain

Source: The Soda Fountain Cookbook