Well, spring is in the air! With this season comes the tradition of the ever popular Three-Gimlet lunch. Wait-we are sure that is a thing, no? Certainly we have never experienced a lunch break consisting of many gimlets, but we are willing to begin such a tradition – but maybe on a Saturday, sitting on our porch. This is the time of year where nature’s beauty renews, buds are blooming, everything appears to be coming to life again. With this as our inspiration, we bring you a fresh take on a classic, the Rosemary Gimlet.
For those not well-versed on the Gimlet itself (at least one of us was not), it has a much higher gin to mixer ratio than a typical gin and tonic. The Gimlet is essentially just gin cut with a bit of lime juice. For those whose liquor of choice is gin, preferably non-well gin, this is the drink for you. Kyle himself has shaken many a gimlet behind the bar, but always has preferred his gin with a bit of tonic (Arugula Gin & Tonic and Celery “Re-Tox” cocktail). I myself always had a preference for more mixed cocktails. However, with the perfect gin, we now realize how refreshing and sip-able such a spirit-forward cocktail as a Gimlet could be.
For our virgin Gimlet experience Kyle decided to forego the use of Rose’s Lime Juice – which is surprisingly the more traditional ingredient in a Gimlet. A homemade simple syrup mixed with fresh squeezed lime juice was used, the freshness of these unassuming ingredients produced a crisp, uplifting flavor that you just can’t experience when using the bottled stuff.
Moving forward from this simple, yet refreshing initial gimlet, we traveled down the road to our love of herbal infusions for our cocktail (see: Sage Brown Derby).Kyle opted to infuse his simple syrup with some rosemary. Rosemary’s woodsy, herbal flavor played nicely with the tartness of the lime juice and the botanical flavors of the gin.
David Lebovitz had a great recipe on his site for a Rosemary Gimlet. Following his recipe as an inspiration, our recipe made one exception – Kyle used a greater ratio of lime juice to rosemary syrup. This extra boost gives the gimlet a brighter flavor with a surge of tartness that will catapult your spring cocktail hour just in time for your Three-Gimlet Lunch (on Saturday, of course).
Kyle’s “gateway gin” into the Gin & Tonic world was Hendricks, which he used as his first choice to get his toes wet with Gimlets, but you can use your gin of choice in this cocktail. The key is to make sure you enjoy it! This will allow you to enjoy your one, two or three gimlets during your relaxing lunch on your porch while viewing the wonders of spring bloom before your eyes. Cheers!
Adapted from David Lebovitz.
- Rosemary Syrup
- ½ cup (125ml) water
- ½ cup (100g) sugar
- 2 tablespoons (4g) coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- Rosemary Gimlet
- 2 ounces gin
- 1 ounce fresh lime juice
- ½ ounce rosemary syrup
- To make the rosemary syrup, heat the water, sugar and chopped rosemary leaves in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is hot and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Once cool, strain the rosemary syrup into a jar, and refrigerate until ready to use.
- To make the rosemary gimlet, measure the gin, lime juice and rosemary syrup into a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker halfway with ice, and shake the cocktail mixture about thirty seconds. Pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary or a slice of fresh lime.
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