One of my favorite drinks on a warm spring day is a classic gimlet. I’ve gotten into arguments over the years about how best to make a gimlet, and even over whether it’ll still be a “gimlet” if you use fresh lime juice and simple syrup rather than a lime cordial (yes, I AM a cocktail nerd). In our Boozy Book Club, we even compared and contrasted seven different recipes once! Regardless of the recipe, I still call it delicious, spirited and refreshing!
This week, we’re featuring two different versions, and including instructions for making your own homemade lime cordial, if you have some free time and extra limes on hand.
Classic Gimlet
2 oz Distiller’s Gin No. 6 (we think it makes the best gimlet — but you can use any of our other gins or vodkas)
½ – ¾ oz Lime Cordial (to taste – see recipe below)
Shake with ice; strain into chilled coupe glass or rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Modern Gimlet
2 oz Distiller’s Gin No. 6 (we think it makes the best gimlet — but you can use any of our other gins or vodkas)
½ – ¾ oz Fresh Lime Juice (to taste)
½ oz Plain Simple Syrup (we use a ratio of 1.5 cups sugar to 1 cup water)
Shake with ice; strain into chilled coupe glass or rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Homemade Lime Cordial
To make your own lime cordial (this recipe adapted from the work of Todd Appel and our own experimentation over the last 15+ years):
- Wash and zest some fresh limes (quantity depends on how much cordial you want to make and size of your limes). Try to avoid the pith when zesting if possible (the white part). Store zest in a closed container in the fridge while you move on to step 2.
- Juice the limes, and measure the juice.
- Add the juice and that same amount of white table sugar, to a saucepan.
- Bring slowly just barely to a simmer, then remove from heat.
- Cool for awhile (30 minutes at least), then add in the lime peels (ensure limes peels are mostly covered by liquid – if you have too many peels, just put as many as you can do while keeping them covered). Store in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, and up to 24 hours.
- Strain out peels.
- The cordial is ready to go – store in the refrigerator. The cordial will keep for at least a month, and probably quite a bit longer. The first time you use it, taste it and make sure you like how it plays in your gimlets – you can add more sugar next time if you want it a touch sweeter. And, if you want it less sweet next time, just use less sugar – you can squeeze in some extra lime juice on your cocktails when you use for this batch (don’t try to add it to the cordial).
