Improved Gin Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 swath Lemon peel
- 1 2⁄3 oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin
- 1⁄6 oz Gomme syrup
- 1⁄12 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
- 2 dash Boker's bitters
- 1 dash La Fée Parisienne absinthe
Method
Glassware:
Serve in a Nick & Nora glass
Prepare:
- Select and pre-chill a NICK & NORA GLASS.
- Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
Method:
- Add other ingredients and SHAKE with ice.
- FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish:
- EXPRESS oils from lemon zest twist into shaker and discard.
- EXPRESS lemon zest twist over surface of the cocktail, rub lemon zest oils on rim, and discard.
History:
The Gin Cocktail first appears in Jerry "The Professor" Thomas' 1862 The Bar-Tender's Guide & Bon Vivant's Companion with this "Improved" version debuting in his 1876 The Bar-Tender's Guide 2nd Edition. This also includes "Improved" versions of the Brandy Cocktail, and Whiskey Cocktail, which are all what we today call Old Fashioned cocktails. In the words of Jerry Thomas, they have been "improved by moistening the edge of the cocktail glass with a piece of lemon." Such "improved" American cocktails from the period are also distinguished by using European ingredients, particularly maraschino liqueur and/or absinthe.
Review:
Fabulously complex and spirit-forward. A delicious cocktail on which to sip and contemplate. Some may want to stir this cocktail but it's better shaken. Expressing lemon oils over the surface enhances the aroma and clears the bubble slick produced by shaking.
