Gimlet Cocktail (Charles H. Baker's 1939 recipe)

Serve in

Garnish:

Lime wedge

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice and strain into chilled glass.

Review:

Boozy and very subtly flavoured and edging very slightly towards being sweet.

History:

Recipe adapted from Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s 1939 The Gentleman's Companion volume II – An Exotic Drinking Book.

The Far Eastern Gimlet
Why on earth this stroke of genius stands unheralded and unsung in this fair and allegedly free land of ours shall, to us, always be a mystery like who it is that designs expensive radio cabinets, why all cinema stars long to ruin themselves playing highbrow roles, and why good prize fighters want to write fiction. Throughout the whole swing of the Far East, starting with Bombay - down the Malabar Coast to Colombo; to Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, the Gimlet is just as well-known as our Martini here.

"The main thing in its flavour is that, unlike most cocktails, it is not 'warming' in hot weather, and in fact is a good cooler. It is simple, without fancy fizzings, and is one to experiment with until the precise amount of lime cordial is found, to taste. This last is a British invention based on a similar essence to Rose's Lime Juice - which comes in the slender decorative bottle we see back of most good soda fountains - but is not quite so pungent. Soda fountain lime syrup also would do in a pinch. We have approximated it with fine results by diluting it with equal amounts of water.

Take a big saucer champagne glass, put 1 jigger either of dry or old Tom gin, 1 tsp gomme syrup or sugar, 1⁄2 tsp - to taste - of lime syrup or lime cordial. Fill up with chilled plain water, add 1 ice cube and thin slice of big green lime. Don't use soda water, please.

Charles H. Baker, Jr, 1939

More cocktails by Charles H Baker

Alcohol content:

• 1.5 standard drinks
• 22.05% alc./vol. (44.1° proof)
• 20.9 grams of pure alcohol