Southside
Gin, citrus, sugar and fresh mint, shaken and fine-strained. Like a Gimlet that has walked through a herb garden.
- MethodShaken
- GlassCoupe
- IceNone (served up)
- Strengthabout 16.0% ABV
- BaseGin
- Tasterefreshing, sour, herbal
Recipe
| 60 ml 2 oz | London dry gin |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Fresh lime juice or Fresh lemon juice |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Simple syrup (1:1) |
| 8 leaves | Fresh mint |
Garnish. One fresh mint leaf floated on the surface, slapped first between your palms to release its scent.
Method
- Chill a coupe.
- Put the mint leaves in the shaker with the syrup and lime juice, then the gin.
- Fill with ice and shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds; the shaking bruises the mint enough.
- Double strain into the coupe so no mint pieces get through, and float the garnish leaf.
About the Southside
The Southside is a gin sour shaken with fresh mint. It is cool, green and sharp, with the mint reading as freshness rather than sweetness. Lime is the usual modern choice; lemon is just as traditional and makes a softer drink.
History
Earliest record 1917: Hugo Ensslin, Recipes for Mixed Drinks, 2nd ed., New York (as South Side Fizz)
Documented
The earliest printed recipe usually cited is the South Side Fizz in Hugo Ensslin's Recipes for Mixed Drinks (New York, 1916–17): gin, lemon and lime juice, sugar and mint, topped with soda like a gin fizz. The short, unsodaed version became the standard later in the century.
Legend and lore
The name is often said to come from Chicago's South Side, where gangsters supposedly drank it to mask rough bootleg gin; other stories credit New York's 21 Club or the Southside Sportsmen's Club on Long Island. The drink is in print before Prohibition and before the 21 Club opened, so the gangster and 21 Club stories do not hold up. The Long Island link is possible but unproven.
Disputed or unclear: Ensslin's first edition (1916) may also contain the recipe; the second edition (1917) is the one most often checked. A 1913 mention of a Southside has also been reported.
Variations
Bartender's notes
- Do not muddle the mint hard; shredded leaves turn bitter and grassy.
- Use a fine strainer as well as the shaker's strainer.
