The Gimlet

This is a little embarrassing to admit, but sometimes I get the idea that I just don’t like something about a cocktail, and I will never try one. I’ve never had a martini (shocking, I know), for instance, just because I have the idea that I won’t like it (why, I have no clue—gin, I like, dry vermouth, sure, so what’s the problem?). I don’t like olives, so I think that’s where my skepticism of the martini lies, but I am tempted to try one with a lemon twist rather than olive juice. I’ll keep you posted on that front, but another drink I’ve thought I won’t like is the gimlet. Once again, no idea why. It could be because I think Rose’s Lime is a weird color. Anyway, a few years ago, Darci tried to get a gimlet at a bar here, and the bartender had no clue how to make one. We sent the server back with a recipe, and the horribleness that came back was enough to turn us both off of gimlets for awhile. I’ve had a revelation, though, thanks to an article by Troy Patterson over on Slate. You should pop over to that site and check out the article; it was very informative and piqued my interest in the gimlet.

I try to keep my bar well-stocked, so I tend to buy lots of little add-ons that I might use in the future. Rose's Lime Juice is one of these things, so I've owned a bottle for probably two years now. It has never been opened, due to the previously-mentioned blah feeling I had about gimlets. After reading the Slate article, I knew what drink I would be making that evening. I came home and mixed up a glass, not using the Raymond Chandler recipe (half gin and half Rose's Lime and nothing else), but instead the recipe off the Rose's Lime bottle. I threw in some orange bitters and wow! I plan on knocking more than a few of these back, at least until I run out of Rose's Lime. The ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz gin (I went cheap cheap cheap and used Trader Joe's Jail-House Gin, which is actually quite tasty)
• 1 oz Rose's Lime Juice
• 2 dashes Bittercube Orange Bitters

In an old-fashioned glass, add ice, then gin, Rose's Lime Juice, and the bitters. Stir well and add a slide of lime to garnish.

I was completely blown away by how tasty this gimlet is. It's refreshing and is very simple to make, two things I appreciate. Most of the cocktail blogs or recipe sites I saw are pro-Rose's and anti-fresh lime juice in the gimlet, although I bet they'd be really tasty if you made your own version of Rose's Lime (I think you could mix 1 part 1:1 simple syrup and 1 part lime juice to make a reasonable facsimile, but I'm sure someone else has already done this and has posted about it somewhere on the Internet). Anyway, read that Slate article, check out some other recipes, and mix up your own version of the gimlet.

The Old Fashioned

If I had to pick my favorite cocktail, I'd say it is the Old Fashioned. There are a number of reasons for this choice: number 1, I really like bourbon and rye (you can use either of these); secondly, they are super easy to make and I almost always have all the ingredients; third, this drink was named in my hometown, Louisville, in the late 1800s. Also, I like the OF because I really don't have to measure anything. I drop a sugar cube in a glass, add a little soda water, throw in some bitters, muddle a bit, and then pour some bourbon in a glass. I only dirty the glass and the muddler, and they are quick to make. The Old Fashioned has a long history--the drink has its origins in the early 1800s and was essentially any combination of a spirit, bitters, sugar, and water. As time went on, other ingredients were added and by the 1880s, this original recipe was called the "Old Fashioned." The rumor goes that this name was given to the bourbon-based version in Louisville at a club named the Pendennis Club.

As I said, the original recipe could include rye, bourbon, whiskey, brandy, gin, and so on. In fact, in The Savoy Cocktail Book, Harry Craddock says, "This Cocktail can be made with Brandy, Gin, Rum, etc., instead of Rye Whiskey." Modern-day Old Fashioneds, though, generally use some whiskey (bourbon, rye, or plain ol' whiskey) or, if you live in Wisconsin, brandy.

That takes me to the monstrosity known as a Wisconsin Old Fashioned (see this New York Times article on the matter). The main difference with this is, of course, the brandy, but there is also the trouble with what should be seltzer water. Wisconites take their Old Fashioneds in a couple of different ways: sweet, with 7-Up instead of seltzer; or sour, with sour mix or Squirt instead of seltzer. Both versions are flat-out too sweet, because they aren't just using a splash of the 7-Up or Squirt, they top off the whole drink with that. Warning: wicked hangover in the works. This state loves these so much you can even buy them premade, in a bottle.

If this is your preferred variety of Old Fashioned, well, to each their own. I, too, came to this drink from a decidedly not old fashioned route--the fruit salad version of the Old Fashioned. These came to popularity in the 2000s and involved muddling an orange slice, a cherry, etc., in with the sugar, bitters, and soda water. I drank the OF this way for a few years before I finally took the dive and started drinking them the Don Draper way. Let's not ignore the popularity of Mad Men as an important turn in the history of the Old Fashioned. That's how I was introduced to this glorious mix. Don and I will always have this drink in common.

Anyway, to the recipe:

• 1 sugar cube (or 1/2 teaspoon loose sugar)
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters (Angostura is just a suggestion; I like orange bitters in mine, which could be Angostura Orange, Regan's Orange Bitters No. 6, or Bittercube Orange bitters)
• 2 oz spirit of choice (I am a big fan of Bulleit Rye in these, but for this one, we used Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon)
• Splash of club soda (or seltzer)

In an old-fashioned glass (get it?), add the sugar cube, bitters, and club soda. Muddle to a slurry using a muddler or wooden spoon. Add ice and bourbon or rye. Give a slight stir to the mix, but keep the slurry in the bottom. Garnish with a large orange peel.

I like bourbon and rye on the rocks, and this is just a nice extension from that. By not stirring the sugar slurry in, you get a nice kick of sweetness on the last drink. The orange from the bitters and the garnish makes it citrus-y, and the bourbon or rye gives it a nice caramel-y and vanilla flavor. This is a drink you can really make your own; you can try different bitters (but I'd stay in the aromatic or citrus families) and different spirits until you find a mix you can call your own. 

Negroni and Americano

Lots of people go for years seeing the bottle of bright red Campari on a shelf behind the bar, or at the liquor store, and wonder what in the world you do with it. Some of those people discover Campari by way of one of the most classic of cocktails, the Negroni. It's a 1:1:1 cocktail, like the Sidecar, but its flavor profile is completely in the opposite direction of that other classic.

1 oz gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth

Stir in a mixing glass and strain into a short glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a wide swath of orange peel, which you should squeeze over the glass before dropping it in.

You may notice that the drink in my photo --it's the one on the left -- is missing the orange peel. Sometimes you realize you really want a Negroni, even if you don't have any oranges in the house. Brad Thomas Parsons, in his excellent book Bitters suggests a few dashes of orange bitters to bring out the flavor, so I thought that might be good, in the absence of the peel. The peel is fantastic, don't get me wrong. But it's a shame to forgo a Negroni for want of orange peel.

I used Aviation gin, because it's an American-style gin, which means it's slightly less juniper-heavy, so I thought it would play nice with the bitters. I also used Punt e Mes, which is probably one of my favorite things in the whole Booziverse. "Punt e Mes" means "point and a half", which refers to the fact that Italians traditionally like to put bitters in their vermouth, and Punt e Mes is Italian (sweet) vermouth with bitters already added. It's delightful with soda and a slice of lemon. You may certainly use whatever sweet vermouth you like. Punt e Mes with Campari might be just too much bitters for some, but we love bitters in this house.

On the right side of the photo above, you'll see the Negroni's cousin, the Americano.

1.25 oz Campari
1.25 oz sweet vermouth
soda water
twist of lemon peel

It's like a Negroni with soda and no gin. You might wonder in what circumstance you would want "no gin", but sometimes that's what hits the spot.

A note about the soda water: I have seen the Americano made as a highball, with more soda. I read in How to Drink by Victoria Moore that less soda is better with bitters than more soda. She claims that you might think you can soften the bitter taste of Campari by diluting it with more soda, but what actually happens is you dilute the sweetness, which only sharpens the bitterness and throws off the balance. I have tested this myself, and it's true. So when I make an Americano, I stick with the short glass, and add just a bit of soda.