Gin Rickey
My drink of choice has changed in the last few weeks. And believe it or not it’s not a cocktail. It’s just something to quench my thirst. I usually have ginger ale or juice when I want something to drink, but recently I’ve found myself craving, of all things, club soda. I’ll drink it straight out of the bottle, in a glass with ice or sometimes I’ll add a slice of lime.
It was on one of these lime nights that Hubs came home, saw the empty glass with the lime in it and immediately said “I’ll have one of those.”
I cocked an eyebrow and responded “Really? You want club soda with lime?”
“That’s all it is?”
“Yeah.”
“Never mind.”
But this little conversation got me to thinking, Hubs was right. There must be a classic cocktail that uses these ingredients. I know there’s the gin and tonic, but I hate tonic water. So I did a little digging. It turns out that while the gin and tonic is a popular choice, there just so happens to be another cocktail out there that has exactly the same ingredients but substitutes club soda for the tonic. It’s called a Gin Rickey.
The Rickey was originally conceived by Colonel Joe Rickey during a hot Washington D.C. summer in 1883. The lobbyist wandered into the local Shoomaker’s and told bartender, George Williamson, what he wanted – rye, seltzer and lime over ice. That’s right, rye was in the original rickey. He found the drink so refreshing that Williamson named it the Rickey right there on the spot. At some point along the way, gin replaced the rye, though no one knows exactly when or who was behind the switch. But no matter who’s responsible, the Gin Rickey is still a popular choice for lobbyists and congressmen everywhere, especially when the mercury starts to rise.
Gin Rickey
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. gin
- juice of 1 lime
- club soda
Directions:
- Pour the gin and lime juice into a high ball glass. Add ice. Top with club soda, garnish with a wedge of lime and serve.
