Gimlet

Like chocolate and peanut butter, this is the joining of two simple ingredients where one plus one equals three.  This is a drink that has kept me in a quandary for a long time over the debate between Rose’s lime juice in its current corn syrup state and products using real sugar and lime juice.  As much as I wanted to find a way to have it all, I have thrown in the towel and accepted Rose’s (that is until I find a way to import the real stuff).

This is another drink with no clear history, the name seems to have been coined in the 1920s after either a tool of the same name or a surgeon who pushed this as a measure of preventing scurvy on ships.  Seeing as how in 1747 it was discovered that lime juice could prevent scurvy and sailors were no doubt mixing lime and gin purely for its medicinal value by the nineteenth century, I am going with the scurvy story.  Either way the cocktail has a long and glamorous history.

In a mixing glass combine three and a half ounces of gin, use Plymouth’s here, and one and a half ounces of Rose’s lime juice, fill with ice and stir.  Pour into a cocktail glass.  This is one I will also build in an ice filled old fashioned glass and serve on the rocks.  As you drink this, think of all the good things the vitamin C is doing for your body!

Gimlet

3 ½ oz gin

1 ½ oz rose’s lime juice

Stir together both ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, pour into a cocktail glass.

Grandma’s Whiskey Sour

Meyer lemons are in season, which means it is time to make whiskey sours!  The whiskey sour gets a bad name due to the preponderance of the pre-made sour mix unfortunately used in so many college bars, dorm rooms and fraternity houses.  A true whiskey sour though balances the sweet and sour tastes as an undertone to the true star of the show, whiskey.  Besides, if they were good enough for your grandma, they are good enough for you!

The sour as a style of drink goes back to the mid 1850s and was covered in Jerry Thomas’ “How to Mix Drinks” in 1862.  I found a crazy tale about an Englishman creating the whiskey sour in Peru in 1872 as reported by an Argentinian newspaper in 1962, but that seems a little far from home for a simple bourbon based drink to come to life.  Fortunately, the famous Wisconsin paper, the Waukesha Plaindealer, mentioned the Whiskey Sour on January 4th 1870; returning this American classic to its rightful home.

I like my whiskey sour heavier on the prior and lighter on the latter so proceed with caution.  This is also one of the few times I have found Colin Field and David Embury in agreement on the proportions.  Start with one ounce of fresh squeezed meyer lemon juice in a shaker.  Add two teaspoons of superfine sugar.  Lastly, add four ounces of your favorite whiskey, Gentleman Jack works for me.  This is only the second time I have condoned using them, but the bright red color of maraschino cherries shows through the drink like a ruby red setting sun, place three of them in an old fashioned glass then fill with ice. Fill the shaker with ice and give it a good shake to make sure the sugar dissolves.  Strain into the ice filled glass and serve.  I have been asked about building it in the glass instead of shaking the drink; it can be done this way, but the shaking better dissolves the sugar and adds a slight froth from the agitation which I think makes for a better drink.  You can also add a dash or two of bitters to this drink if you are feeling adventurous!

Whiskey Sour

4 oz whiskey

1 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp superfine sugar

Combine all ingredients with ice in a shaker, strain into an ice filled old fashioned glass.