How to make the perfect cocktail: #3 The Gimlet
As I mentioned in my previous cocktail post, one of my absolute summer favourites is a gin and tonic, but I felt that wasn’t exciting enough to count as a cocktail, so I’ve come up with my takes on The Gimlet with two similar drinks to make it snazzier, and I’m so so pleased that I did!
A Gimlet is usually considered just straight gin and lime juice, on the rocks or by itself. If I wanted to be on the floor by 8pm, this is what I’d be drinking, so I put my own twist on it and combined gin, lime juice, basil and cucumber which I lengthened with tonic water. The result was delicious, refreshing, sharp and cool and I know I won’t be able to look at normal gin and tonics the same anymore.
Adam really hates cucumber (what a weirdo, how can you dislike cucumber?!) so his was just a lime and basil version which also tasted great, but didn’t have that cool refreshing aftertaste that cucumber lends itself so well to. Plus mine was the perfect shade of basil green (I was going to say mint green there…) whereas his looked more like cloudy lemonade. Still, if you’re not a fan of cucumber, just leave it out and make the drink in exactly the same way regardless.
Ingredients (per cocktail):
- Half of a lime, cut into chunks
- An inch of cucumber, also cut into chunks
- A sprig of basil leaves, torn gently
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- Two shots of Plymouth gin (one of my favourites!)
- Fevertree tonic (if you’re feeling posh – normal tonic water will also do)
- Crushed Ice
- Lime wedge, cucumber slices and basil sprig to garnish
Method:
- Fill a tumbler style glass with crushed ice
- Add the lime, cucumber and sugar to your cocktail shaker and muddle together (if you’ve got a muddler use that, if not the end of a rolling pin works well too)
- Sprinkle in your basil leaves and muddle gently – bashing around too much will break up the leaves too much and leave bits in your drink
- Throw few icecubes to your shaker and pour your gin over the top. Shake vigorously.
- Strain the shaker into your glass of crushed ice
- Top with tonic water, lemonade or soda (or drink neat if you’re feeling hardcore)
- Garnish with some pretty cucumber slices or a lime wedge and a sprig of basil
I think this drink would also work really well with vodka if you’d rather that than gin, and you could try changing up the lime and basil for lemon and rosemary if that’s something you fancy.
