Gin Rickey
A dry, crisp highball of gin, freshly squeezed lime and cold soda water: as simple and refreshing as a cocktail gets.
Ingredients
- Gin45 ml
- Lime juice, freshly squeezed15 ml
- Soda water, coldtop up
- Lime, to garnish (optional)1 wheel
Method
- Fill a highball glass right up with ice cubes.
- Pour the gin and freshly squeezed lime juice straight over the ice.
- Top up with cold soda water.
- Stir briefly and gently with a bar spoon, so the fizz holds.
- Garnish with a lime wheel and serve at once.
About this drink
The Gin Rickey comes from late nineteenth-century Washington, D.C., where it is said to have been named after the lobbyist Colonel Joe Rickey, who liked his drinks without any sugar at all. While most cocktails of the day were drowning in syrup, Rickey insisted on straight spirit, fresh lime and plenty of fizz: a stylish protest against sweetness that still holds up today.
Questions and answers
What is a Gin Rickey?
The simplest kind of gin highball: gin, fresh lime juice and soda water over ice, with no syrup or sweetness at all. A dry, clean, refreshing drink.
Is there really no sweetness in a Gin Rickey?
None, and that is the point: where most sours and fizzes use syrup, the Rickey family stays completely dry. Add sweetness and, strictly speaking, you are no longer making a classic Rickey.
