Instructions
- Add gin, lime juice, and syrup to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake until cold.
- Strain into glass and top with a splash of soda water, if desired. Garnish with a lime wheel and serve.
Full Answer
What is a gin gimlet?
The gin gimlet is a classic cocktail made of lime juice and gin. Here’s an easy recipe for this refreshing drink that takes only 5 minutes to make! Add gin, lime juice, and syrup to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake until cold. Strain into glass and top with a splash of soda water, if desired. Garnish with a lime wheel and serve.
What are the best tips for mixing a gimlet?
Stirring is the traditional mixing method for the gimlet, though many modern-day recipes call for shaking the drink. This aerates and softens the drink's flavor. Serve it on the rocks in an old-fashioned glass. Substitute the gin with vodka for a vodka gimlet. Skip the lime cordial and pour equal parts of fresh lime juice and simple syrup.
Is a gimlet a weak drink?
The gimlet is not a weak drink. The lime cordial makes it a little gentler than the 62-proof martini, but this cocktail can still sneak up on you. If you pour it according to the recipe, with an 80-proof gin, the gimlet mixes up to about 24 percent alcohol by volume (48 proof). I don't like this at all.
How long does it take to make a gimlet?
Here’s a classic cocktail that is super refreshing and takes only 5 minutes to whip up: the gimlet! Not only is the gimlet simple to make, it’s the perfect balance of sweet and tart with the botanical flavor of gin.
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Should a gimlet be shaken or stirred?
Is a Gimlet shaken or stirred? As directed by Harry Craddock in his book “The Savoy Cocktail Book,” the Gimlet should be shaken for optimal flavor, as well as to eliminate any cloudiness from the lime juice.
What is the difference between a martini and a gimlet?
What's the difference between a martini and a gimlet? While both a martini and a gimlet are made with gin, the martini is made with vermouth and is garnished with either a green olive or a lemon twist. The gimlet is made with sweetened lime juice and gin. Both drinks could be served straight up or on the rocks.
How do you order a gin gimlet?
Ordering "a gimlet" will get you shakened gin and lime juice, with a dash of soda. If you want to up your gin preference, you'll of course need to state your gin preference (there is a pointed theme going here), and note the drink is classically served up and not on the rocks.
What does a gimlet taste like?
What does a gin gimlet taste like? It's tangy and sweet, with an aroma of gin but balanced on the back end. It's pretty botanical and gin forward, so you'll want to use a great bottle of gin. If you're not a fan of strong drinks, we'd recommend trying the gin fizz instead.
Is a gimlet served on ice?
Straight or on the rocksGimlet / Served
Why do they call it a gimlet?
A gimlet is a hand-held drill for boring holes, and would have likely been used on Royal Navy ships. The drink could have been named for its “piercing effect” on the sailors. The name also could have come from the naval surgeon Sir Thomas Gimlette, who may have come up with the drink as a way to combat scurvy.
Can a gimlet be served on the rocks?
Straight or on the rocksGimlet / Served
What do bartenders think of Old Fashioned?
An Old Fashioned is a wise order if you want to ease your way into the world of dark liquors — but don't expect these to taste the same at every bar. Old Fashioneds are a classic bourbon-heavy cocktail typically made with Angostura bitters, a sugar cube, and an orange peel.
What is the easiest drink to order at a bar?
10 Simple Mixed Drinks To Order At A Bar Today (2022)Rum & Coke.Moscow Mule.Cosmopolitan.Seven & Seven.Cape Codder.Old Fashioned.Daiquiri.Mojito.More items...•
What do you eat with a gimlet?
The citrus of a gimlet works well with the saltiness of sushi. Instead of heading for the sake to sip with your sushi, you may want to consider mixing it up with a gin gimlet next time, according to Eric "ET" Tecosky, founder and owner of Dirty Sue Premium Olive Juice and US brand ambassador for Jack Daniel's.
How do you garnish a gimlet?
LimeGimlet / Standard garnishAdd the gin, lime juice and simple syrup to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or an rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.
What is a gimlet straight up?
Straight or on the rocksGimlet / Served
What are the three types of martini?
Dry, Perfect, or Wet The next step in constructing your perfect martini, is declaring the amount and what type of vermouth you want in your cocktail. A classic martini, or a wet martini, is when you prefer an equal ratio of gin and dry vermouth.
Does a gimlet have vermouth?
Like it's more famous cousin, an authentic gimlet is gin based, but also works well with vodka instead. It's also just two ingredients poured into a cocktail or coupe glass. But unlike a martini, the gin gimlet recipe calls for lime juice instead of vermouth.
What is the difference between a cocktail and a martini?
A martini is an alcoholic drink that is made with gin and vermouth. A cocktail, on the other hand, can be made with any type of alcohol and usually contains a mixer such as juice or soda.
Why is it called a martini?
The name may derive from the Martini brand of vermouth. Another popular theory suggests it evolved from a cocktail called the Martinez served sometime in the early 1860s at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, which people frequented before taking an evening ferry to the nearby town of Martinez, California.
Variations
A variant of the cocktail, the vodka gimlet, replaces gin with vodka. The Daiquiri is a similar lime juice cocktail that uses light rum instead of vodka or gin. The "Pimmlet" substitutes 2 parts Pimm's No.1 Cup to 1 part London Dry Gin .
Preparation
David A. Embury gave a gimlet recipe (called a gin sour) in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (3rd ed., 1958), calling for an 8:2:1 gin/lime (or lemon) juice/ simple syrup ratio plus garnish. Eric Felten essentially repeated this in his "How's Your Drink" column in The Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition of August 4, 2006:
Etymology
The word "gimlet" used in this sense is first attested in 1928. The most obvious derivation is from the tool for drilling small holes, a word also used figuratively to describe something as sharp or piercing. Thus, the cocktail may have been named for its "penetrating" effects on the drinker.
What is a gimlet?
A gin gimlet is a classic cocktail made of lime juice, gin and simple syrup. It’s sometimes served with a splash of soda water. While it became popular in the 1950’s, a recipe for a gin gimlet cocktail was included in a 1930’s cocktail book, so it stems back to at least that far!
How to make a gimlet
What does a gin gimlet taste like? It’s tangy and sweet, with an aroma of gin but balanced on the back end. It’s pretty botanical and gin forward, so you’ll want to use a great bottle of gin. If you’re not a fan of strong drinks, we’d recommend trying the gin fizz instead.
Try it naturally sweet, or use simple syrup
Alex and I love naturally sweetened drinks, so we love using pure maple syrup in most of our cocktail recipes. It sweetens drinks in a gentler way than simple syrup and it gives it a more nuanced flavor. When we taste test back to back, maple syrup always wins! Simple syrup has a more straightforward flavor: you can use it if you prefer!
What type of glass is a gimlet served in?
A gin gimlet is traditionally served in a cocktail glass, which is similar shape to a martini glass. They’re slightly different: a cocktail glass is slightly smaller and more rounded, and a martini glass is more of a cone shape and has a shorter stem.
Find the best quality gin
Because this gin gimlet cocktail is so simple, it’s all about quality here. The better the gin, the better the drink. The easiest way to tell if a gin is high quality? Don’t buy the cheapest gin on the shelf. Try to invest in a mid-price range gin: the drink will only taste as good as the gin you invest in!
Do I need a cocktail shaker?
Cocktail shakers are inexpensive and absolutely worth the cabinet space. A cocktail shaker quickly chills cocktails by shaking them against ice, then has a perforated lid so you can pour out the cocktail without pouring out the ice as well. Here’s the cocktail shaker we use: Favorite Cocktail Shaker
Make your own soda water
If you decide to add a splash of soda water to this gin gimlet (which mellows out the flavor), you can buy it, or make it at home. To make our soda water, we used our SodaStream, which we love — there are also several competitors on the market that work well.
The history of gimlets
As with many classic foods and beverages, the gimlet has several origin stories. One of those, according to Liquor.com, is that it was invented as a survival strategy for British sailors. Legend has it that in the late 18th century, as ships trawled the seas, scurvy — in the absence of fresh citrus — was a real threat to sailors.
What's in a gimlet?
For a straightforward drink made with two ingredients, there's a surprising amount of debate over the proper preparation of a true gin gimlet.
How to serve a gimlet
Now that you've gotten to know the basics of a gimlet, it's time to shake — or stir — one up at home. A refreshing cocktail that tastes slightly herbal if you choose to use gin and super-puckery from the generous amount of lime juice, bottled or fresh, this is a simple drink that pleases a wide range of palates.
Instructions
Shaking aerates the alcohol. In other words, it agitates and awakens it a bit. Some people refer to this as “bruising the gin.”
Best Gin For Gimlet Cocktails
The best gin for gimlets comes down to your personal preference, but popular options for gimlet recipes include affable Bombay Sapphire, reliable Hendrick’s, and Bluecoat, an American-made gin named for the Bluecoat revolutionaries who pushed back Redcoat British during the War of Independence.
Gimlet Variations
The gimlet is elegant in its simplicity – just a trifecta of ingredients. This means there’s less room for gimlet variations than with more embellished drinks.
