How To Make The Contemporary Gimlet Cocktail - Building A Drink: Your Ultimate Guide to Mixed Drink and Cocktail Recipes

Stir the gin and lime juice in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, Squeeze the lime wedge over the drink.

The classic gimlet cocktail was originally conceived by the British navy as a remedy for avoiding scurvy, combining their rations of gin and lime juice. The name was inspired by a "gimlet," the corkscrew- like device used to tap into the lime juice kegs. A key ingredient in the Gimlet is Rose's lime juice (otherwise known as lime cordial), introduced by Lauchlin Rose of Scotland as yet another preventative for scurvy in 1867. In The Long Goodbye, writer Raymond Chandler glamorized the drink for the masses when his character, detective Philip Marlowe, pontificated on his favorite cocktail: "A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's lime juice and nothing else." The classic recipe from the 1930s Savoy Hotel bar is indeed made of equal parts Plymouth gin and Rose's lime juice. Of course, there are many variations according to personal preference, from different ratios of gin to lime juice to the addition of water or club soda, and, for those who desire fresh lime juice instead of Rose's, a teaspoon of sugar or ½ teaspoon simple syrup is needed. Many also enjoy a sugar rim, first moistened with lime juice.