For Better Gimlets, Serve Them on the Rocks

As a Martini agnostic, I’ve always been jealous of the specificity with which fans of the classic gin drink get to order: dirty, filthy, dry, twist, olive, gin, vodka, and so on. But as someone who prefers sweet and sour flavors, I met my perfect match on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, at Long Island Bar. 

Enter: the Gimlet on the rocks. 

The Gimlet is the perfect cocktail. It's tart, sweet, refreshing, quenching, and offers a boozier kick than, say, a spritz. While the majority of Gimlets are made with gin, simple syrup, and fresh lime juice, many dive bars still mix it up the traditional way using sweet-and-sticky Rose’s Lime Cordial. There’s certainly a time and place for Rose’s, but the tart punch of freshly squeezed lime juice is what brought the cocktail back to the mainstream for a new generation of drinkers.

At Long Island Bar, bartender Toby Cecchini nods to Rose’s history by crafting a housemade lime-ginger cordial. It offers just a touch of warming ginger with plenty of citrus flavor from a combination of ginger juice and an oleo saccharum made from lime peels and sugar. Cecchini’s Gimlet is delicious, but what really sets it apart is that it’s served in a rocks glass, over ice. 

Gimlets are traditionally served up, or shaken with ice then strained into a cocktail glass. While the drink looks great in fancy stemware, it’s not the best option for the cocktail. What is, is a short rocks glass filled with ice. 

I’ve ordered dozens of Gimlets on the rocks, and the interpretation is always different, even throughout New York City. Some serve the drink in a tall Collins glass with a straw, others in my preferred classic rocks glass. My favorite presentation was at the lauded TriBeCa restaurant, The Odeon, where it was served in a neat glass, or a short glass somewhere in between a shot glass and a rocks glass, with two or three ice cubes.

A Gimlet served on the rocks is not just fussy for fussiness sake. It is perfect for a few reasons. Ice ensures the lime juice stays tart, chilled, and refreshing, rather than growing tepid over time, particularly in the summer. Rocks glasses are also less prone to spillage when navigating through a crowded bar. Ice also helps to lengthen the drink, making it last longer — much needed when a cocktail can cost $20+ in NYC. 

However, purists may disagree. Can a Gimlet served on the rocks still be called a Gimlet? “The origins of the Gimlet go so far back that the correct way to make this drink has been debated over the years,” says Simon Ford, founder of Fords Gin. “They are both a Gimlet, and for this drink, the glass could vary significantly and it’d still be a Gimlet.”

Others disagree. Stanislav Harcinik, of Mirror Bar in Bratislava, Slovakia, thinks a classic cocktail shouldn’t stray from the original recipe — and this includes the glassware. He describes my preferred drink as a one made in the style of a Gimlet. 

“If we want to represent a classic cocktail with its original name, we should always stick to the original and known recipe as much as possible,” says Harcinik. “I typically find that guests order something they know or they have a fondness for a specific classic.”

Ford likens the Gimlet to a Margarita, in which the drink can be faithfully served interchangeably between a rocks glass, a Martini glass, or even a pint glass filled with ice. The service of the drink is tailored to the bar, restaurant, or customer, but there’s no doubt that the drink is still a Margarita. 

I like my Gimlet on the rocks, and won’t hear otherwise. Serve it in a short glass with just a few ice cubes, make it extra cold so it doesn’t dilute too quickly, use good gin, and sip often.