The story of the gimlet, one of our favorite cocktails, goes back more than 150 years.
A man named Lachlan Rose created and patented a product named Rose’s lime juice. Rose, who was in the British navy, received rations of lime juice to fight scurvy and figured out he could preserve the juice with sugar. He started making his product in 1868. British sailors also often were given a ration of gin and, well, you can see where this story is headed.
Early versions of the gimlet — like the one in 1923′s “Harry of Ciro’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails” by Harry MacElhone — called for equal portions of gin and lime juice. Today’s drinkers prefer less sweetness, so the proportions have been adjusted to as much as 4-to-1 gin to lime cordial. Also, the original gimlet mostly was stirred, as ice usually wasn’t available, but today it often is shaken with ice or served on the rocks.
The artificial ingredients in today’s Rose’s lime juice, including high fructose corn syrup and the preservative sodium metabisulfite, have left some bartenders looking for alternatives. Some opt for fresh lime juice and simple syrup as a substitute, but we feel that is more of a gin daiquiri, rather than a gimlet.
Others, such as Toby Cecchini at the Long Island Bar, make their own lime cordial. This process involves macerating the skins and juice of limes with sugar and gives you more of the tart and bitter flavors of the commercial product, without the artificial ingredients.
The makers of some commercial products also are using fewer artificial ingredients. One of these products, El Guapo lime cordial, is made with just water, cane sugar, lime and lime leaf.
Leopold Bros. sour lime cordial, meanwhile, is a spirit, rather than a syrup, and at 80 proof it gives the taste of lime cordial but also packs a punch. We use this to create an ode to the gimlet that drinks like a martini.
That version of the gimlet, called a sodini after a San Francisco bar, started out as a glass of iced gin with a slug of Rose’s lime.
Below is a basic version of the modern gimlet and how to make a sodini.
GIMLET
2 ounces gin
¾ ounce lime cordial, store-bought or homemade
¾ ounce lime juice
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass or a chilled cocktail glass.
Serves 1
Per serving: 181 calories (percent of calories from fat, 0), trace protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams total sugars, trace fiber, trace total fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 1 milligram sodium.
SODINI
2 ounces St. George Botanivore gin
¾ ounce Leopold Bros. lime cordial
¼ ounce Bordiga Centum Herbis
Put all the ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice, stir until well chilled, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with 2 drops of olive oil.
Serves 1
Per serving: 192 calories (percent of calories from fat, 0), no protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams total sugars, no fiber, no fat, no cholesterol, 1 milligram sodium.
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