As a sipper of that awesome delight, the cocktail, I am giving you the recipe for a Gimlet, one of my favourites. As cocktails are wonderful way of sipping through an hour in a lazy evening, I will give the recipe for a Gimlet, one of the simplest drinks.
Cocktails are potent drinks and I will say up front that they do not mix with driving or operating any machinery. They are not meant to be drunk to excess or drunk you will be and a drunk is neither amusing nor clever. They are also drinks for adults so anyone under the legal drinking age, please leave this site and comeback when you are over the legal age. (Please observe all your local alcohol laws.)
Now these cocktails are not made necessarily to the traditional recipes. I am not a professional nor have I ever even worked behind a bar but have honed my skills on my own guests and for my own pleasure.
I was introduced to the Gimlet by an Englishman who was in the Royal Navy in World War 2. He had the job of steward when the officers had dinner and drinks. The new captain asked him for a gimlet. All the sailors searched high and low for a gimlet and couldn't find one. As they were looking for a carpenter's tool for boring holes, and they were in a ship in which presumably holes were not welcome, of course they couldn't find that gimlet.
"What do you mean, sailor, you can't find a gimlet on the ship. A Gimlet is drink you fool!" My friend said he did feel a right fool, but he was more of a rum man, the daily rum ration being the right of the British Navy sailor for centuries.
The captain told him to mix gin, lime cordial and water and serve him a GIMLET man, a bl**dy gimlet!
So my friend introduced me to this most refreshing of drinks, that has it's origins somewhere in the mists of time. It has been said it was a way of getting British officers to drink lime juice to ward off scurvy.
I make this directly in the glass.
Gin.
Lime Juice Cordial (I use Bickfords Brown Lime cordial, but i do not know if you can get it outside of Australia)
Water (Still or soda, I prefer still)
A lime slice.
Take equal measures of each liquid, pour into a glass and stir, add a couple of ice cubes in the hot weather. Garnish with a the slice of lime, if you want to show a bit of flair. Do not add any little umbrellas, plastic stirrers or fancy straws. Remember this is the drink of officers and gentlemen and no flim-flam is tolerated!
If I replace the lime cordial and water with freshly squeezed lime juice it makes a sharper, less sweet taste. It could be sweetened with a little simple syrup if needed.
Simple syrup.
Simple syrup is a mainstay for sweetening cocktails. To make simple syrup, take equal parts of white refined sugar, and water. Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and bring the mixture to the boil, simmer until all the sugar crystals are melted into the water. Leave to cool.
Do not try to sweeten cocktails by just adding sugar (unless a recipe says so),they will not dissolve. Instead use simple syrup.
So the next time an officer of the Royal Navy says, "I would like a gimlet, please", you will be able to reply, "Gin, lime and water. Yes, sir!"
