02 Jun Cocktail Recipe: The Gimlet+Bonus French Gimlet
Cocktail Recipe: The Gimlet+Bonus French Gimlet
One of the keys to cocktail happiness is having a Standby Drink. Say you find yourself at a downscale hotel bar, or the 19th Hole at a golf course, or a banquet hall, or the like. Alcohol is being served, but the inventory and menu remain untouched by the cocktail renaissance. There’s nothing worse than trying to order and getting only blank stares or firm refusals in return from the bartender; the odds are 83% that you end up panic-ordering a gin and tonic made with mixing gin. There are worse things in life, but far better things in cocktails.
That’s where the Standby Drink comes in. Your Standby Drink is the drink you know you like, and you also know that most any bartender, anywhere can make you. The good Standby Drink is a nice, solid drink made with only the most basic ingredients, according to a recipe that the bartender most likely knows by heart–and one that is easy enough for you to rattle off to them if they don’t.
The Gimlet is my Standby Drink. All the Gimlet takes is two ingredients: 5 parts mixing gin to 2 parts sweetened lime juice. It’s very, very simple. It’s quite tart and pretty sweet and goes down nice on a warm day–and it’s almost impossible to mess up.
Your Standby Drink doesn’t have to be a Gimlet, but you should have one. Why don’t you mix yourself a gimlet as you ponder what your Standby Drink should be? If you want it a tad bit more sophisticated, try the French Gimlet instead; just don’t try to order a French Gimlet at the 19th Hole.
The Gimlet Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 oz mixing gin (we use Gordon’s. Don’t use your good gin for this one)
- 1 oz sweetened lime juice*
- lime wedge (for garnish)
Instructions
- Combine gin and lime juice in an ice-filled mixing glass.
- Stir for 40 rotations, so that it’s nice and chilled.
- Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with lime wedge.
Note
*With all due apology to Rose’s, there’s no need to buy a commercial sweetened lime juice. Sweetened lime juice is just as easy to make as simple syrup. For your one ounce of sweetened lime juice, just mix 1/2 oz of lime juice and 1/2 oz of sugar and stir briskly until the sugar is dissolved. Voila!
French Gimlet Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz mixing gin (again, not the good stuff)
- 1 oz St Germain
- .5 oz lime juice (not sweetened)
- lime wedge (for garnish)
Instructions
- Combine gin, St. Germain, and lime juice in an ice-filled mixing glass.
- Stir for 40 rotations, until the ice is half-melted and the cocktail nice and chilled.
- Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with lime wedge.
