Eastside
A fresh gin cocktail with cucumber, mint and lime: pure summer in a glass.
Ingredients
- Gin, London Dry or a good craft gin60 ml
- Lime juice, freshly squeezed30 ml
- Cucumber, about 5 mm thick3 slices
- Mint, fresh leaves9 leaves
- Simple syrup (1 part Sugar, 1 part Water)22.5 ml
- Cucumber, to garnish (optional)1 wheel
- Mint, to garnish (optional)1 sprig
Method
- Put your glass in the freezer, so it is ice-cold when you serve.
- Place the cucumber slices in the bottom of a shaker and muddle them well to release their juice and aroma, without mashing them to a pulp.
- Add the mint leaves and press them gently with the muddler; over-muddling makes them bitter.
- Pour in the gin, lime juice and simple syrup.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for 15–20 seconds.
- Double-strain through both a bar strainer and a fine-mesh strainer into the cold glass, so the texture is perfectly clean.
- Garnish with a cucumber wheel and a fresh sprig of mint.
George Delgado, Libation, New York
About this drink
The Eastside was created in the early 2000s by bartender George Delgado at Libation in New York. It is a modern classic that bridges gin's botanical sharpness and the cool freshness of cucumber. Its fine balance of acidity, sweetness and herbal mint has made it a fixture of today's gin repertoire.
Questions and answers
Why should you go easy when muddling the mint in an Eastside?
Pressing too hard tears the leaves apart and releases bitter notes from the stems. A few light presses with the muddler are enough to release the fresh oils without the bitterness.
Can you leave out the cucumber in an Eastside?
You can, but the cucumber gives the drink its signature freshness and makes it a summer drink rather than an ordinary gimlet. Without it you miss much of the point.
