Gimlet
Gin and lime cordial (or fresh lime and syrup) — a sailor's Sour, spare and cold.
- Lime peelexpressed
- Double strained up
- Hard shake 10s
- Gin + lime + sugarin shaker
How to make it
- Combine gin with either 22 ml Rose's lime cordial (traditional) or 15 ml fresh lime juice + 8 ml simple syrup (modern) in a shaker with ice.
- Shake hard for 10 seconds.
- Double strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a lime peel expressed over the drink.
The history
The Gimlet is a British Royal Navy drink. Scurvy killed more sailors than combat until the 18th century, when the Navy mandated lime juice rations for long voyages. Lauchlan Rose patented a preservation process for lime juice in 1867 — Rose's Lime Cordial — and it entered ship's stores as a matter of naval regulation.
The cocktail is named for Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette, a naval surgeon who is credited with mixing gin into the sailors' lime ration to make the medicine palatable. Whether Gimlette invented the drink or simply popularized it is a matter of naval folklore.
For most of the 20th century the Gimlet was made only with Rose's cordial (as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe insisted in The Long Goodbye: 'A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's lime juice and nothing else.') The modern craft-cocktail version uses fresh lime and simple syrup, which is a cleaner drink but arguably a different one.
Common mistakes
- Bottled sweetened lime juice that isn't Rose's
Rose's has a specific caramelized-lime character that generics don't reproduce. Either use Rose's or go fresh — do not use the generics.
- Vodka Gimlet by default
A vodka Gimlet is fine and standard on menus, but it's a distinct drink. The original is gin.
- Under-shaking
The drink is only three ingredients and lives or dies on temperature. Shake hard for a full 10 seconds.
Variations
- Fresh Gimlet
60 ml gin, 22 ml fresh lime juice, 15 ml simple syrup. Cleaner and brighter than the Rose's version.
- Vodka Gimlet
Substitute vodka. Popularized in the 1960s. Cleaner still; no botanicals to interact with the lime.
- Bee's Knees
Gin, lemon, honey syrup. A related Sour with the same austerity but different citrus and sweetener.
Frequently asked
- Rose's or fresh?
- Both are legitimate. Rose's is historically correct and has a distinctive caramelized character; fresh lime + syrup is cleaner and modern. Pick a lane per pour.
- How is this different from a Gin Sour?
- Ratio and glass. A Gimlet is drier and shorter than a full Gin Sour, served up, with no egg white or bitters.
- Why so short?
- The Gimlet is a naval ration in cocktail form. Three ingredients, cold, small — it's not meant to sip for an hour.