A bracing duet of gin and lime, the Gimlet pares the formula to its bones — juniper-forward spirit cut with sharp citrus and just enough sweetness to round the edge. Served bright and cold with no ice in the glass, it drinks clean and tart, the botanicals carrying straight through the lime rather than hiding behind it.
Garnish: Lime Wheel
Shaken · Coupe · Up
add
Combine the gin, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker.
shake
Add ice and shake until well chilled.
strain
Double-strain into a chilled coupe, served up with no ice.
garnish
Garnish with a lime wheel.
The most repeated story ties the Gimlet to Royal Navy lime rations and a Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette, but nothing confirms it — his BMJ obituary makes no mention of the drink — and the name more likely borrows from the small hand tool for boring holes. The word turns up in print by 1928, and two years later The Savoy Cocktail Book recorded it as equal measures of gin and lime, the lime then meaning a sweetened cordial. Raymond Chandler was still describing it as an even split of gin and Rose's in 1953. Later bartenders pushed the gin higher, to as much as four parts against one of cordial, and many now trade the bottled cordial for fresh lime.