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Rickeys


johnder

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What is your take on the classic Gin Rickey? Do you put sugar or no sugar?

The classic recipe I have used is 2 oz gin, 1/2 oz lime, collins glass, top with soda and lime wedge.

I have seen other recipes that call for 1/4 oz of simple, and there is even one on cocktaildb that calls for grenadine.

Thoughts?

John Deragon

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I feel sorry for people that don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day -- Dean Martin

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Why the current issue of Imbibe Magazine has a Dr. Cocktail column on this very subject! Includes much historical information.

He prefers the unsweetened version.

Unfortunately, it is not available on their website.

---

Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

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I don't drink them often but I also prefer them sans sugar, it detracts from the refreshing nature. Lime is sweet enough already (compared to lemon). Although I'd really rather have a Tom Collins (or better yet, a French 75) nearly any day.

-Andy

Andy Arrington

Journeyman Drinksmith

Twitter--@LoneStarBarman

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Though, I think the truly "classic" recipe includes the lime hull, no?

Build over ice, 2 oz Gin, juice of 1/2 lime, drop the hull in, stir, top with soda.

Edited by eje (log)

---

Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

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I'm a card-carrying rickeyaphile in the summer, and I take mine with no sugar. Though, I came across a recipe a couple of years back (can't recall where, sorry) that called for a dash or two of maraschino, which makes a not unpleasant version.

Paul Clarke

Seattle

The Cocktail Chronicles

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Though, I think the truly "classic" recipe includes the lime hull, no?

Build over ice, 2 oz Gin, juice of 1/2 lime, drop the hull in, top with soda.

I believe that's the case but if not I will continue to include it anyway. I will not, however, include sugar. To my mind adding sugar to a Gin Rickey turns it into a short, limey Tom Collins.

Balance and quality ingredients are always important when making a cocktail or mixed drink but I find that this is particularly true for a Gin Rickey. Every Gin Rickey I've made in a particular glass with Beefeater and a nice fresh lime has been exceptionally tasty and refreshing whether I've used club soda, homemade fizzwater or lime seltzer. I think the glass I use holds either 8 or 10 ounces. When I'm lazy and try to make a taller drink I usually end up with something a little too bland or too tart.

Using the right glass but a different gin generally works out well but I don't experiment much anymore. Beefeater Rickeys just strike me as a bit more refreshing than others I've made with Gordons, Bombay, Booths and Brokers. I'd guess that my newish bottle of Junipero might make for fine if somewhat decadent Gin Rickey but I can't quite see myself using it to make one. I'm too cheap.

Kurt

“I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake--which I also keep handy.” ~W.C. Fields

The Handy Snake

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I too am a sans sugar person when it comes to the Rickey.

TO me nothing is a clean, crisp and refreshing when standing in front of the grill.

"The only time I ever said no to a drink was when I misunderstood the question."

Will Sinclair

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  • 3 years later...

Since it's Rickey month in DC, there are some items appearing in print by DC mixer Derek Brown. And there's a Rickey passport as well. It appears that the original Rickey was made with bourbon, though - not rye, as mentioned above.

It began with bourbon, not gin.

Atlantic article.

Passport info.

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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  • 3 years later...

A Gin Rickey with a muddled plum and Beefeater gin. Great on a hot Saturday afternoon.

1.5 oz gin, 1 oz lime, 1/2 oz simple syrup, and plenty of soda water. It would have been fine without the simple syrup as the plum was sweet already.

9990654683_4a52212514_z.jpg

Edited by FrogPrincesse (log)
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