The Gin Rickey

Last night, before I met up with the lads, I simply had to stop and get a bottle of gin to make the evening more pleasant for us all. Poe was never more right than when he said “Drink the wine, it will make you glib.”
I had just finished rereading The Great Gatsby, and I had written in my journal that I wished to try a Gin Rickey, a cocktail all of the lovely denizens of the East and West Egg were imbibing throughout the course of the work.
Normally I take my gin with tonic, and I was a little dismayed when I saw the recipe for the Rickey: Take half of a lime, squeeze the juice into a highball glass then toss in the shell. Add some ice, at least two ounces of gin, and fill it the rest of the way with club soda.
Simple enough, but I adore that delightful bitterness of quinine and thought that the Rickey would not be able to assuage my desire for tonic.
I was so very wrong. Though this drink is certainly not as popular as it once was, and though G and Ts are far more frequently called for, this drink is refreshing, bitter and perfect for sipping in the heat.
Just like G and Ts however, it goes down all too easily. Martinis tend to overpower one and it is rare to have more than two in one evening. Quite the opposite with the Rickey; the freshness of the lime juice makes one go back for more. Last night I had six of them myself, which amounted to half of one bottle of gin. I’m a bit dull this morning but I will live. I am simply quite pleased that the Gin Rickey is a new part of my scant cocktail repertoire; there simply aren’t too many classic cocktails.