London Calling
It turns out that summer time is perfect for distinctly British cocktails and for our purpose at hand. One of the most widely beloved of all British cocktail contributions is of course the gin and tonic (or its more pretentious reincarnation in recent cocktail bars as the “tonic and gin”). This storied concoction has its origins in Imperial Britain, when in the early to mid 19th century quinine powder harvested from cinchona bark was being utilized to prevent malaria for citizens and soldiers stationed in India. The bitter medicine was made more palatable by mixing it in sweetened soda water, and the invention of “tonic water” really took off when Schwepps launched their product in 1870. It was only natural that British soldiers starting mixing their daily gin rations with their daily medical ration – quite efficient, really. Another distinctly British summer drink is the Pimm’s Cup. Pimm’s liqueur was also created by an Englishman around 1840 as a medicinal tonic. The original version, “cup #1”, is also a gin based spirit. The classic British Pimm’s cup is a mixture of Pimm’s liqueur with sparkling lemonade and lots of summer fruits and berries. US versions often swap the lemonade for ginger ale, but you get the idea. It’s a drink which can be as simple or complex as you like it, with these basic ingredients. The gin and tonic and the Pimm’s cup are extremely complimentary drinks, so I created a special cocktail which starts out as one and turns into the other. The “Big Ben” cocktail begins as a somewhat fruity gin and tonic, due to a nice ripe muddled strawberry at the bottom of the glass. Otherwise it’s as simple as it can get, using good quality gin and your favorite tonic. A bit of muddled cucumber doesn’t hurt either.
Pimm's and Lemonade Ice!
The ice is very unusual, however. For this drink, you will need a little preparation, by freezing a few special ice cubes ahead of time. For my version, I froze some ginger lemonade ice (just add some fresh ginger muddled into lemonade) and some Pimm’s lemonade ice. Most alcohol won’t freeze very well on its own so it’s easier to dilute it a bit with something, such as more lemonade in this case. If you would rather your gin and tonic not have strawberry to begin with, you could make strawberry lemonade ice as well. The variations are up to you. Add a few of these special cubes to your G+T, sit back in the summer sun, and as the ice melts, the drink becomes a Pimm’s cup. This progressive move / sequential discovery cocktail solves itself, so you can focus on other things, like the Big Ben puzzle, or a nap in the sun. Bottoms up!
London Calling - A gin and tonic which becomes a Pimm's Cup once melted.
London Calling:
2 oz British Gin
Good quality tonic water
large ripe strawberries
Lemon ginger ice
Pimm's ice (depending on the size of your ice tray, add either 1 or 2 oz of Pimm's with lemonade for each cube. Each drink should have ice equaling 2 oz Pimm's)
Muddle a strawberry in the bottom of a glass. Combine the gin and tonic and a squeeze of lime. Add the special ice cubes and garnish with more fruit and mint. Add sunshine and more tonic as the ice melts.
