Last week we looked at four classic gin cocktails, all variations on the gin sour, which contains gin, lemon, and sugar. Swap the lemon for lime and you have a gimlet - delicious on its own, and as a jumping-off point for even more classic drinks.
Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice; shake and strain into a cocktail glass.
Add bitters to a gin sour and you have a Fitzgerald; add bitters to a gimlet and you have a Bennet. I love how the bitters lend an additional layer of complexity; I love how the name makes me think of my favorite Jane Austen heroine.
The Bennet
makes 1 cocktail
2 oz gin
.75 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
.75 oz simple syrup
2 dashes angostura bitters
Here's where it starts to get really interesting. What if we were to monkey around a little with the original spirit - say, add a little bit of cognac? It sounds odd, but by adding cognac to the gin in a gimlet, you get a lovely drink with a certain sweetness and roundness. It's called the Stay Up Late.
The Stay Up Late
makes 1 cocktail
1.5 oz gin
.5 oz cognac
.75 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
.75 oz sugar syrup
And lastly - let's take the gin sour, but change the sweetening agent. Lime pairs particularly well with pomegranate - swap the sugar syrup for some homemade grenadine and you have a sweetly tart little cocktail, the Debutante.
The Debutante
makes 1 cocktail
2 oz gin
.75 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons homemade grenadine
Nancy Mitchell has four more reasons to love gin. You can find more of her recipes on her blog, The Backyard Bartender.
(Images: Nancy Mitchell)
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Me thinks, I'll be trying out gin cocktails this weekend.
I love gimlets. I'd also recommend the Gin Buck as an alternative to the Moscow Mule: gin, ginger ale (spicier the better), and a healthy squeeze of lime.
The gimlet is my family's drink. However, we make them with vodka. The recipe goes like this: fill cocktail class with ice (lots of ice), vodka ~halfway up the glass, Rose's lime juice (little less than a quarter of the glass). Stir. Strong and will keep people very, very happy.
There was a bartender at my favorite bar (no longer there, thank heaven) that once attempted to make a gimlet, but got confused halfway through and put an onion in it, like a gibson. We called it a giblet. Also, he kept accidentally fumbling the cocktail onions, which winged off in several directions before he finally speared one. I'm afraid none of us stopped him as we watched this catastrophe unfold. It was too funny.
it is so interesting to be able to share so many different ways of cooking delicious food here.I am desired to learn some cookie style from other place outside of China.
I'd say that the Gimlet hasn't really been forgotten about, but it has been revived a bit. How interesting all the different variations you can make just by adding a few ingredients.
Made the Debutante last night and LOVED it. Our tastes are quite classic in cocktails and it takes a lot for us to add a new one to our usuals, but the Debutante made it I think! A use for the grenadine sitting in the drinks cupboard, perfect balance between sweet and sour, and a gorgeous colour!