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Active Time
2 minutes
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Total Time
2 minutes
One of the mostrefreshing drinksyou’ll ever make is also the easiest. The classic gin rickey cocktail requires just three ingredients and basically zero prep time—it comes together in less than five minutes.
The original rickey cocktail recipe iscredited to a late-19th-century bartenderin Washington, DC. As the story goes, a lobbyist named Colonel Joe Rickey frequented Shoomaker’s, a saloon in the city’s historic Rum Row. There, he would request a mixed drink without sugar. Bartender George Williamson crafted a simple cocktail using the gentleman’s preferred spirit, fresh lime juice, and soda water. And while the colonel is reported to have opted for bourbon, it wasn’t long until gin became the more popular base for the concoction. The gin drink even made a cameo in 1925’sThe GreatGatsby,where the players are said to sip their cold drinks in “long greedy swallows.”
WhileLondon dry ginis the traditional spirit, modern styles of gin can be used to flavorful effect. If you prefer a sweeter gin cocktail, add a splash of simple syrup and serve it up to make agimlet(if you then swap the lime juice for lemon and put it back on ice, it becomes aTom Collins). You can also make an equally refreshing version without any gin—try alime rickeyseasoned with a touch of Angostura bitters for complexity.
Ingredients
2 servings
Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with cracked ice. Add3 oz. ginand1 oz. fresh lime juiceand shake until chilled, 5–10 seconds. Strain into 2 tall glasses (such as an 8–10 oz. collins glass) filled with ice cubes. Top each with3–4 oz. club soda or seltzer, then squeeze alime wedgeinto each and drop into glass.
Editor’s note:This recipe was first printed in the December 2007 issue of ‘Gourmet.’Head this way for more of our favorite summer drink recipes →
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Reviews (8)
Back to Topnice and refreshing for a sunny deck drink
mencelpat
Belmont, NC
4/18/2021
My wifes new favorite cocktail. Tasty without all the sweetness of a Cosmo.
Anonymous
Foley, AL
12/21/2007
So good and easy
Anonymous
6/19/2023