Gin Rickey
Gin, fresh lime and soda over ice, with no sugar at all. Bone-dry, sharp and very refreshing in heat.
- MethodBuilt
- GlassHighball glass
- IceCubes
- Strengthabout 12.7% ABV
- BaseGin
- Tasterefreshing, sour
Recipe
| 60 ml 2 oz | London dry gin |
| 15 ml ½ oz | Fresh lime juice |
| Top up: 120 ml 4 oz | Soda water |
Garnish. The squeezed half lime, dropped into the glass.
Method
- Squeeze half a lime into a highball glass and drop the shell in.
- Fill the glass with ice and add the gin.
- Top with cold soda water and stir once.
About the Gin Rickey
The Gin Rickey is gin, the juice of half a lime and soda water over ice, with no sweetener. It is tart and bone-dry, closer to sparkling water with a kick than to a Collins. Its simplicity is the point: it is a drink for hot afternoons.
History
Documented
The Rickey is named after Colonel Joe Rickey, a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and was associated with Shoomaker's bar there in the 1880s. It began as whiskey (usually bourbon), lime and sparkling water. By the 1890s the gin version had become the more popular one, and the colonel's name was attached to it.
Legend and lore
Whether the colonel himself or a Shoomaker's bartender, often named as George Williamson, first added the lime is told both ways; neither version is settled.
Disputed or unclear: The 1883 date for the first Rickey is traditional; the earliest printed recipe for the gin version is not firmly established.
Variations
- Joe Rickey. The original whiskey version: bourbon or rye, lime and soda.
- Gin and Tonic. Gin lengthened with bitter, sweetened tonic instead of soda.
- Tom Collins. Gin, lemon, sugar and soda: the sweetened cousin.
- Lime Rickey. Lime, sugar or syrup and soda without spirit, an American soda-fountain staple.
Bartender's notes
- Use fresh, very fizzy soda and do not over-stir.
- If it is too sharp for you, a teaspoon of syrup is allowed, but then it is no longer quite a Rickey.
