We sat in a corner of the bar at Victor’s and drank gimlets. ‘They don’t know how to make them here,’ he said. ‘What they call a gimlet is just some lime or lemon juice and gin with a dash of sugar and bitters. A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats martinis hollow.’
Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye
Not sure I agree with the slight dig on martinis there, but the gimlet is a superb drink. And gimlet season fast approaches: it is a drink for warm times and warm climes, like Philip Marlowe’s LA, British India, or any visit to our flat between the vernal and autumn equinoxes.
I love the legend according to which the drink was invented by Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette who, in the late 19th century, is alleged to have introduced the drink as a means of inducing his messmates to take lime juice as an anti-scurvy medication. He would thereby have joined his fellow Sir Thomas - Crapper - in the pantheon of excellently-named Sir Thomases who have given their excellent names to useful things. But the legend is believed to be false, and anyway I think the gimlet is a little dainty for the tars of the senior service (distracted, in any event, by rum etc).
I follow Chandler’s recipe entirely: in fact it is itself taken from the Savoy Cocktail Book, I think, and works a treat. Given the strong lime tang, it doesn’t much matter what gin you use, though Plymouth is traditional (navy connection?). You can get Rose’s in Sainsbury’s (and only in Sainsbury’s for some reason). It is lime juice cordial; no lime cordial will do.
Mix equal parts and shake as vigorously as you can for thirty seconds: an excellent task for teenage nephews. No drink is more lip-smacking or refreshing. And it’s an excellent ploy for getting non-spirit drinkers to take their medicine. Our gorgeous Singapore nieces absolutely cannot get enough of them, and the drink has secured my position in the firmament as G-etta (uncle G).
Three cheers for the Cavalry. Up the Navy! Sorry! I guess I’ve had one too many of Auntie Lili’s gimlets. I’ve got to get the old glad rags on soon, because we’re having a party to which no less a person than the District Superintendent of Police is coming.
Paul Scott, The Jewel in the Crown
Sticking to India but eschewing British imperialism, on Indian Independence Day (15 August) I do a variation I call a Jai Hind by adding Cointreau and garnishing with an orange twist - the lime, gin and orange are the green white and orange of the Indian flag, see?). It’s really very lovely.
I might additionally recommend the slight variation they do at Dishoom: they add a few drops of celery bitters and garnish with dill. The savoury edge to the sweet and sour lime is really something.
Gimlets. I love Gimlets.