MxMO: Being Green – Tequila Gimlet

It is time once again for Mixology Monday.  Long story?  Read the previous MxMO post.  Short story – once a month, the cocktail blogosphere has a cocktail party with a theme determined by the host. This month’s theme is “(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green.”  Every drink must feature, prominently, a green ingredient. I am sure that a number of midori and absinthe based drinks will be reviewed and consumed this month.  Once again, I had lost track of time and planning; what could I do at the last minute?

Limes! The most common green ingredient in a bar is this humble citrus fruit.

A gimlet is a rather simple combination of sweetened lime syrup, a liquor, and sometimes topped with soda water. Commercially, Rose’s Lime Syrup is commonly used.  Gin is the most frequent base liquor, but that was still a little too easy for me. I thought I would, instead, make a lime syrup from scratch and pull some tequila out of the depths of the liquor cabinet.

Lime syrup
Juice of 2 Limes
Fill with water until the liquid equals ⅓ cup
Zest of the two limes
⅓ Cup of Sugar
Bring to a boil.
Simmer ~5 to 10 minutes.
Strain & cool.

You could leave the now candied lime zest in, but the straining makes clean up a lot easier.

Tequila Gimlet

Regan’s 2003 Joy of Mixologygoes 75ml liquor to 20ml lime syrup.  That didn’t work for me. In a shaker tin ⅔ full of ice, add 25ml of fresh lime syrup and 60ml of tequila.

Strain into an ice highball glass.  For a summer drink, I usually prefer to have them on the rocks. The additional chill helps the long slow sipping process.

Garnish with lime wedge and a pinch of the lime zest to keep the green going.

You may have noticed the soda water in the picture above.  One taste tester found the drink to be a bit too strong.  I added a few splashes of soda water to lighten the drink and open it up.  She liked it.

I liked it.  It certainly seemed to remind me of the recently departed summer.  In fact, this would have been a great refreshment during a summer that tried to kill the rosemary bush out front. It sits somewhere between a margarita and a daiquiri.  The tequila adds a bite to the traditional gimlet that brings out the bitterness of the lime zest used in the syrup.  These components balance the sweetness of the syrup well.

I was a little disappointed that it did not turn out greener for this month’s theme, but I humbly throw it in to consideration. The surest sign that the drink was a success – I kept reaching for another sip.