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The gimlet is a simple yet elegant cocktail with a long, interesting history dating back to the 19th century. The traditional recipe hasn’t changed much since the British Royal Navy began mixing gin with Rose’s Lime Juice to help its sailors fight off scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C. While it’s usually served “up,” that is, shaken with ice and strained, of late we’ve noticed an emerging trend of serving this cocktail on the rocks in either a rocks glass or a Collins glass.
We tapped Jeffrey Morgenthaler, author of “The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique,” to help us determine the proper way to serve a gimlet. He’s firmly in the not-served-over-ice camp. “The delicate flavors in gin and lime cordial are, I believe, best enjoyed with minimal dilution,” Morgenthaler tells Chowhound in an exclusive Q&A. Likewise, his choice in glassware is equally classic, preferring a “Nick and Nora” glass, named after novelist Dashiell Hammet’s dashing crime-solving characters, Nick and Nora Charles. Morgenthaler describes the glass as stemmed, “narrow mouthed,” and “a little smaller than your typical Martini glass.” Beyond this, he has some other suggestions on how to improve your gimlet.
Improving on a standard gimlet
The gimlet remains one of the most popular cocktails of all time, but Jeffrey Morgenthaler believes it can be improved on from the standard of gin and Rose’s Lime Juice. “For an even more authentic and pitch-perfect gimlet, make your own lime cordial,” he says. Morganthaler’s version includes grated lime peel, fresh lime juice, citric acid, and sugar. This definitely beats Rose’s, which contains high-fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring, among other ingredients.
Barring that, he suggests using fresh lime juice and sugar instead of Rose’s, but if you want to make it extra special, Morgenthaler has another recommendation. “If you’re going the fresh juice route, cut back on the sugar a little and throw in a teaspoon of your favorite jam, preserves, or marmalade for a seasonal touch,” he says. A nearly empty jam jar works well for making this cocktail so before you toss it out, consider making a uniquely fruity gimlet instead. Just please be sure to serve it “up” in a Nick and Nora glass.
