January in the capital cities of Australia is usually a pretty exciting month when it comes to live music. I saw Fleet Foxes at the Tivoli last night and tonight I’ve just seen Beirut at the Hi-Fi. Tonight’s gig was a short stroll from my place, so I invited some gig-going friends around for a couple of pre-show drinks.

Gimlet

• 60ml gin
• 15ml lime juice cordial

 

Stir together on the rocks in a rocks glass and garnish with a lime wedge. That’s it.

 

My favourite story about the origin of the Gimlet involves some naval surgeon (I really want to say SEA CAPTAIN but that would be a lie) who tried (successfully, I reckon) to get his sailors to drink scurvy-preventing lime juice by loading it with gin. CLEVER GIRL. His name? Dr. Thomas O. Gimlette. Spectacular.

Gimlet debate and waffling on after the jump.

Okay. Today’s gin is a toast to my hetero lifemate, one of the gig-goers this evening. I picked it for today because she was the one who introduced me to gimlets, and by “introduced me to”, I mean back when we sharehoused together she came home from a few drinks one evening with workmates and said “HAVE YOU TRIED GIMLETS THEY ARE DELICIOUS SORT YOUR LIFE OUT”. I have to own up right now and say that despite her warning, up until today I had still not tried a gimlet.

Oh, google. You will always lead to my highest highs and lowest lows. I hit up google because the gimlet purists (… okay, I hit up google a second time, AFTER my first round of googling led me to discover that there are gimlet purists) stress the use of Rose’s lime juice over fresh lime juice & sugar syrup.

“That is a gin sour,” they cry, “not a gimlet! You fools!”

Here’s where Australia foils me again. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Rose’s lime juice isn’t on any of the Australian shelves I’ve scoured in the last few weeks. It’s not in supermarkets, it’s not in bottle shops. I’m ready to accept that it’s somewhere I’ve just not looked yet (and let’s face it, I definitely haven’t been to every plausible store in Brisbane). What is on a lot of shelves? There are two options – Schweppes lime juice cordial and Bickford’s lime juice cordial. I made the decision quickly and easily because my gimlet-loving friend has Bickford’s in her kitchen.

Now, my next dilemma. Bickford’s is undiluted. To turn it into proper cordial, you dilute it. But what about for cocktails? An intense googling session brought me no answer, so I dove headfirst into the experimentation zone. I hadn’t really been to this zone before (at least not with mixing alcohol) so I wasn’t sure what to expect, apart from a small amount of trepidation, a small amount of excitement, and sweaty palms (standard for all experimentation zones).

I tried a couple of different combinations… though none of them included diluting the cordial. I don’t know… after the first one it didn’t seem too bad, so I think undiluted is the way forward? I’ll probably revisit this because I don’t know about it. The squeeze of fresh lime from the wedge at the end was nice, and BFF ended up giving hers a hefty squeeze because the lime juice cordial was a little too sweet for her.

I’ll come back to you one night when you and I can be alone together for a while, Gimlet.

PS. Beirut was fairly amazing but the Hi-Fi is the worst venue. It’s just the worst. I don’t think I’ll be bothered going there again; tonight was the last straw.