Gin Rickey

Last night, The Amateur Mixologist played in his weekly soccer match, pulling out a 5-5 draw against a good side filled mainly with quality Brits.  I spent 50% of the match taunting them for the latest snooker scandal in England.  Only kidding of course.  No one gives a shit about snooker, not even the Brits, and it's their sport.  A draw is a decent result, but, I was exhausted. 

The Gin Rickey turned out to be an excellent choice for me on a night after such hard work.

Gin Rickey
Taken from Esquire's fantastic online drink database, available here.

1/2 ounce lime juice

2 ounces London dry gin
club soda

Squeeze the lime juice into a Collins glass full of ice. Add the gin, throw in the lime half, and top up with bubbly water of choice. That's it. Don't let anybody convince you to put sugar in this. You can use other liquors, adjusting the name accordingly.

This Gin Rickey tastes like a bizarro-Sprite, and yet, is oddly refreshing.  The drink makes for a perfect nightcap after playing a soccer game.  It's not particularly alcohol heavy, it's served cold, hell, one could convince themselves that this would have been a sports drink 200 years ago. 

As Peggy said on last week's Mad Men, we need 3 ingredients for a cocktail, and this fits the bill, barely. [I believe she said that 2 ingredients is "an emergency", a line that I liked very much.  Unfortunately though for Peggy, the world of cocktails has taken a back seat to 2-drink choices in the last 2-3 decades - though we're fighting against it in recent years!!  Good on us.]

It's also worth pointing out that I cheated a bit on this cocktail.  I didn't use fresh lime juice.  The limes I had at the house had faded and faded fast.  See?

Not only that, I didn't use London dry gin.  I used Leopold's small batch gin made in Colorado.  Leopold's is excellent, and I highly recommend checking out their Blackberry Flavored Wishkey.  I know that it sounds a little strange, flavor-wise, but it is unique and very good.

Our Gin Rickey turned out nicely.  And, the Gin Rickey is a cocktail that provides plenty of room for error - so throw in that bottled lime juice and non-London dry gin if available - give this one a go!

See you on Friday!