We’re living in unusual (dare we say crazy) times 🤪. In home isolation with an ad-hoc schedule, my days seem to fluctuate from being very slow or very fast. (The end of Daylight Savings didn’t help with that extra hour!)
To put the time to good use, I’m doing a bit of personal ‘home schooling’. Since cafes and bars are out, my books of choice over the next few weeks will be my cocktail recipe collection.
I’m starting at the easy cocktails and plan to work my way through to the complicated recipes 🤞🏾🍸.
I’ve commencing with the classic Gimlet and have decided to make it ‘Oz style’. The basic recipe is 3 ingredients but I’ve condensed it to 2 – Gin + Shrub 😋! (Despite having heaps of time I’m going for quick, easy and efficient, plus I have heaps of Lime Shrub 😃!)
I love the simplicity of Gin and the great flavour variety of the local Sydney options. Manly Spirits Barrel Aged Gin was my choice for this recipe and thanks to its whiskey heritage it brings to mind a ‘sour’ tonality.
As for the other ingredient, my theory is that any recipe that calls for lime juice + syrup, I can substitute our Lime Shrub. The effect will be same, same but different with a more intense flavour in a single ingredient.
As for the cocktail's history, the Gimlet dates back to the early 20th century and the recipe appears in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930). It’s origins are a bit obscure as its name is suggested to be from both the tool that pierces small holes (a reference to its piercing effect on the drinker) as well as being named after Surgeon Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette KCB (1857–1943), who is said to have first added lime cordial to the daily gin allotment of Royal Navy sailors.
Here’s our new recipe:
The GINLET (Gimlet – Oz style)
2 oz. Manly Spirits Gin – Barrel Aged
1 oz. Rainforest Lime Shrub
Add both ingredients to ice in cocktail shaker. Shake well to mix. Pour into chilled cocktail glass and Enjoy!
(BTW – Belated Happy, Hoppy Easter 🐣)
Along with the cocktail, hope you like our new name which we think says it all! Inspired by The Cocktails Collective article ‘So What’s it Called: The Art of Naming Cocktails’, the name is short & sweet. Did we get it right? Any thoughts?
Here is the original Gimlet recipe (for reference)
The GIMLET
2 oz. Gin
½ oz. Lime Juice
½ oz. Simple Syrup
Add all ingredients to ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake well to mix. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass and Enjoy!
My reference library. (More to follow 😀!)
