Gimlets R Us

Hello everybody, it's 4 o'clock Pacific time, a Friday, which means I'm drinking again. I hope you're gonna join me today and drink up. Interesting day today, kind of craptacular. Start out, ok, a lot of great meetings, got a lot of stuff done. The day, in, like, you know, when you've got a project that you're super excited about and there's a bunch of people working on it and you think it's going fine until you get somebody who's like not in your control, you can control the content, whatever, that's like just bring the whole thing down. That's what happened today, kind of a sucky end of a day. So I'm super ready and excited to drink and today we're going to make gimlets. Give

us your great drinks, like, I'm, this is probably one of those things that I would have done earlier. I'll try not to take up too much time because the NFL Draft is starting, and if you're a jack Nick like me, you want to get to it. But I guarantee these drinks are worth it. Gimlets are awesome, light drinks, great for summertime, great for springtime, how they're great for any time. Who am I fooling. And we talked, I think we made the art martini a little bit about Jim, and I kind of talked about how gin, a lot of gins start from vodka, and it's pretty much the case, you know, they're essentially most gins are produced by

distilling botanicals, juniper being the most, the most prevalent one, halogens have juniper with a neutral grain alcohol, and in today's modern times that neutral grain alcohol is vodka. I've actually kind of asked a question, well doesn't that just make juniper flavored vodka. Kinda, but there's a very special way this vodka is made, and one important thing to know about gins is that all the flavorings are absolutely neutral, okay, all gins also have juniper, we talked about in the very first one, we talked about bourbon, things that make up a bourbon.

Rhys little bit looser, ginger even looser than that. Gins don't really have any recipe, and that's why Jin's are so interesting and can be so good, and there's such a wide range of gins. About the only thing with gins is that they have juniper, you know, and outside of that they've got all kinds of stuff. So we are going to use my house gin today, well I'm going to use my house gin, handling sounds. I love this stuff, it's really good, very smooth, a very light gin, has is very easy on the botanicals, not overly flavorful, but since today was such an awesome day, we're gonna start with drinking a little gin straight up.

This is, I think I showed you this before. Aha. Don't do this at home. So this is my favorite gin, which is why I spent so much time getting that cork out, dammit. It's Angelica gin. The only place I've ever actually been able to get this is in Reykjavik. So I, when I do work in Europe and I fly back, actually go through Iceland, stop the airport and get this stuff. If you can find this in the States, I highly recommend it, it's super interesting, it's got a very interesting botanical profile, like nothing I've ever had before.

It's super good, so I'm gonna have a little bit lat, and whatever gin you're drinking right now, I highly suggest just pour a little bit out and taste it, because tasting gin, tasting any alcohol you're mixing, is great, you should do that. Oh my goodness, that is lovely. So some interesting facts about Jim, we'll start back in the 14th century, a lot of people equate gin to the Black Plague and as this cure-all, and there's a reason for that, is because in the 14th century, when the Black Plague was killing everyone in Europe, juniper berries, and in fact a lot of things that go into gin, were considered a cure for the plague. Fast forward to the 15th century, the Dutch are the first ones who were super smart, and these are the guys actually started infusing juniper into buthe. Awesome for Dutch guys, fast

forward to the 17th century, it's kind of weird because I always associated gin with the English and the United Kingdom. So in the 15th century, I had the thirty year war between, what, France, Spain, England and Holland, and that's kind of where the English started drinking gin. I think that's kind of where they got it from. They used to have a saying, you know, they say Dutch courage, didn't take a shot and then down a shot before the way into battle, which is kind of interesting, but I think that's kind of how the English got the whole gin thing.

Fast forward to the 18th century and gin is like all the rage. There you may have heard the term bathtub gin, it's because Gin was so popular in London that there are, literally, distilling it and freaking everything. It is also where you get the term blue water and mother's milk, because a lot of that gin was not good, actually was blue or milky and just nasty, like I'm sure probably like actually blinded people and stuff like that, not good, because they make it into freaking everything, like it took over London, huge. That was in the 17th century.

So let's take a little break from history, let's try another gin. This is Breckinridge gin, I really like it. See guys, could tell how my day went. It's it's a really smooth gin as well, smells super yummy, it's got a really good botanical head, it's not nearly as interesting is this Angelica gin, this is more of a traditional gin with a little bit heavier botanicals in, just a kind of a run-of-the-mill gin, mm-hmm, but super smooth, super yummy. So those are good gins. Back to history lesson because I think this is interesting.

So bathtub gin going all over the place, I was an 18th century, fast forward to the 19th century, and all of a sudden gin in London becomes refined and it's the drink for gentle folk, right. In fact, that is where you get the term London Dry Gin. It was special gin cultivated for all these, you know, hoity-toity uppity muckety-mucks, right. And then, you know, fast forward to 20th century over here in the states, especially in the Roaring Twenties, gin is all the rage, everyone loves gin, and it really hasn't looked back since.

So, I know some of you aren't big drink gin drinkers, I guarantee this drink you will love. Gins actually are meant to be mixed with stuff, most gins really aren't meant to be consumed just by themselves or like over ice or something, although I like gin, but most of them are actually meant to be mixed, right. And the drink we're gonna make is amazing, so let's start with a basic gimlet, basic gimlet is super simple to make.

Right, like everything I make, it's gonna have at least two ounces of booze, right. So we're gonna have two ounces of gin in this, to a half an ounce of our good friend, simple syrup, and a half an ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice, and already took care of that so you guys didn't have to watch me squeeze lime. That's it, that is a gimlet, right. Put it in a shaker, shake it, you're good. We're going to make, well, that, that's so [bleep] gimlet, to add to the gin, 1/2 ounce simple syrup, 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice, take a little lime and use it as a garnish. Some people like a little bit more lime juice, or some people like a little bit more simple syrup, and that's okay. I wouldn't go any more than 3/4 of an ounce of either one, cuz you're going to just kill the drink and you're going to lose all the botanicals. So that's my thing. Since I probably

shouldn't be drinking 6 shots, and funny, like I did the other week, I'm just gonna drink 4 shots and I had that other stuff, so it comes up. So I was drinking gin with a buddy of mine, Matt Gibson, who some of you know, and he said, wow, this would be great with basil. And holy [bleep], he was right. I call this the Gibson gimlet. And so I'm gonna take some big fatty leaves a basil, okay, got three of them in there and putting them in my shaker, and I'm gonna muddle those.

Remember we talked about leafy stuff and how you want to be careful when you muddle those, right. You want to bruise them but you don't want to rip them up, because you don't want the chlorophyll out there, because that has the potential to kind of ruin your drink. Like, oh okay, perfect. So I got that basil in there, it's all muddled up, awesome. Go throw some ice in the shaker, okay, got tons of

ice in there. Let's start with the simple syrup, I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to pour a half ounce of simple syrup in here, can you remember we've got a Japanese jigger, we've got an ounce on this side, we've got two minutes on each side, crap, it, put too much. So here, just sugar water, okay, half ounce, and then I've got my freshly squeezed lime juice.

I'll put a half ounce of that in there, perfect. And now the gin, I'm gonna use, having since it's not my house yet, I get to stuff a total wine for like $25 or something for a half gallon, and it's really good gin. Like I said, most gins are, are actually made for mixing, so you know, if you have a good drink, you can get away with a gin, it's maybe not as spectacular, but I actually do like handling sons, just sipping, like it's

good. You, so this is the Gibson variant, right, of the gin gimlet. We have some muddled basil on the bottom, we have a half ounce of simple syrup, 1/2 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice and 2 ounces Of gin.

Me, okay. We're gonna pour this out, look at that bad boy. Oh my goodness, that screams Friday, doesn't it? I think it, this, okay, there's that. I'm gonna then take lime here, I'm gonna cut off a little bit of that lime, maybe not, there we go.

I'm just gonna rim the glass, will squeeze, dump it in there, cheers, that's your Gin Gimlet, oh my god. So those of you that are falling along, if this isn't one of the best gin drinks ever, I don't know. The beautiful part about it is the, you like I said, be careful with the simple syrup, you don't want to put too much, for sure, that's why I kind of drank some and took it out because if the drink is, is ends up being sweet enough, but the nice thing about it,

it's really good, it's a nice thing about it is it, the botanical, so if you get a good gin, the botanicals mix really super well with the lime and that simple syrup just gives it a little bit of sweetness, they to me, puts it over the top. I like it with basil, you don't have to make it with basil, right, this is just a variant of it. I think the basil just adds a nice flavor on top of the botanicals and the sweetness, it kind of brings it out a little bit. I was never a big basil fan, in fact, I really put basil in anything But these, but I really, really like.

Okay, so on the second drink, now the second drink is something that when I made it the first time, I thought it was Most ludicrous, stupidest idea ever I. just thought it was gonna suck the big choise, to occur, my good friend Brian Weber and his wife, who's also my good friends face, whoever, came over and I was making Gin Gimlet, Tracy does not like gin, but she loves coconut vodka, and she just got a store and had a fifth of coconut vodka, and, should, Steve, can you make a gimlet with coconut vodka, and I said no, I cannot make a gimlet with coconut baggage, so please, I really don't like gin, oh my god, this is gonna suck, this, this drink is gonna suck the big Foster Creek, no, no, just make it for me, right? I said okay, fine.

And I made it, and truth be told, that thing, walks like it is amazing, right? So this is Tracy's gimlet, like it sounds disgusting. Do you guys know, I'm not a big vodka fan in the first place. I hate coconut, I really do not like coconut in anything. This drink is amazing, right? And we're gonna do it the same way, once again, basil is optional. I've got my shaker all loaded up, I'm not too particular, right now I'm just gonna leave that basil in there, but I'm not gonna put in any more.

So same thing, okay, we're gonna put in a half an ounce of simple syrup, and once again, like I, you guys are thinking coconut vodka Steve, or this sounds disgusting, and you'd be right in saying that, but you have to try this drink because it is like, it's, it's good, and I Can't think Traci enough for giving me. the idea, that's why it's, this is, this is the Tracy Gimlet, yes.

Coconut vodka, sure, why not, coconut vodka, this is like 12 bucks, 13 bucks a bottle, like it almost seems criminal to be using this because it's, so I mean it's coconut freakin vodka. It smells like Hawaii, for Christ's sake, but I'm gonna take two ounces of this bad boy and I'm gonna put it in the shaker, okay, so the Tracy Gimlet, we're substituting the gin with coconut vodka. Now I think it's important to remember that, like some, you don't like gin but you like vodka, this is not a drink, you just wanna drink with vodka, the vodka, grain based alcohol, it's not gonna, it's going to be Very bad drink with the gin, you get the.

botanicals, you get that nice flavor that wraps in there, with this coconut vodka, oddly enough, the coconut kind of takes the place of the botanicals and actually makes a drink that's worth drinking, believe it or not. Okay, so everything's in here, two ounces of coconut vodka, half ounce of simple syrup, 1/2 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice, really, really well, because coconut kind of Overpowers it, okay, trace the way ever if.

you're watching, you should be loving this, if every freaking drop of that bad boy out of there, okay, perfect, same thing, cut up a little bit of lime, man, I need a different knife. There we go, nice little piece of lime, I'm gonna rim the glass there, I really don't have to do this cuz I just did this before, and cheers, I get ridiculous,

it's like this is like, it's something that someone does not like, that someone who, I think gimmicks in general, the Gin Gimlet is something that you can give to someone who does not like cocktails or Mixed drinks or gin, and they will like it. This is something you give your freaking five year old and get them freaking hooked and become an alcoholic super quick. This drink right here is like the ultimate leg spreader, this thing's crazy, seriously, I'm ringing myself. Molly's gonna hate me later. Oh my god, that's a good drink. So, gimlets. Oh screw that, I'm drinking the whole thing.

This is really good, you should actually enjoy these because they're really good. As soon as I'm off of Facebook, I'm gonna really kick five more of these and drink them and enjoy them. Uh-huh, wow man, that takes the edge off on a day, on Friday. So these drinks are super good, gimlets, very easy to make. Anyone can make them. Two parts gin, a half a part of simple syrup, a part of freshly squeezed lime juice. If you like basil, use basil. Basil makes a more of a difference with that gin, because the basil works really well with the botanicals in the gin, in fruity tooty, fresh and fruity, whatever. This version

the basil's kind of lost, and I make fun of this, of Tracy Gimlet, but it's good, like you have to try it. I know it sounds disgusting, go out and buy yourself a fifth of Smirnoff coconut vodka and try it, because it is amazing. And like I said, credit goes to trace whoever like because she gave me a great drink to add to my repertoire. So hope you learned something today. I thought it was fun, little history of gin, and the reason why I brought that is because really I didn't, you know, the history genes interesting, especially because, like I

said, I always thought it was an English thing, but it's really a Dutch thing that the English just kind of took, like everything else during their, you know, in part is, which is fine because we just took our country back anyway. I'm using this, this is now my new cutting board, my youngest daughter made this for me in shop, which I think is cool, it's a pig, but it's cool. Not sure what I'm gonna make next week, some of you been clamoring for a tequila drink, and I think you're right, I think it's time for It to kill a drink, which means that Molly will make the drink, not me. I'm not a tequila guy, I, I can make a couple tequila drinks, the tequila old fashioned is amazing.

You know, just simple fast recipe, like we did a few weeks ago, all you do is take out the bourbon, put in tequila, it's freaking amazing, get a reposado tequila or just a simple gold tequila, like Cuervo gold, works great, it's awesome, but I think we may go to tequila next week, we may have a guest bartender and my wife Molly, we'll see how that goes. But it should be fun, I'm sure most you will enjoy her way more than you enjoy me, but I hope you had some fun Friday.

Enjoy Friday, gin gimlet are amazing, that coconut vodka gimlet is amazing, an easy drink to make, especially after the Kevin last week. By the way I haven't thought of a better name, I got a lot of really good ideas from last week. I think one of the best ones I got was from Clark Butler of the Dewey Bunnell, I do Banal Dubin L is a guy that wrote horse with no name, and it was a drink with no name, so it could be the Dewey B. I thought that was a good name, I got a bunch of good names from you guys, but my friend Beth actually made a really good point, what, hey look, it's got a story behind it.

How's the Kevin, so maybe you should just keep calling for Kevin, and maybe I will just call it the Kevin. So that was last week. Basil's good, so we'll think about what we make next week, it'll probably be a tequila drink if I can get my wife in here. If not, I've got a repertoire of all kinds of great stuff, I just made a drink this last week called a bespoke, I don't know if I invented it or if I grab stuff from someplace else, but it's, it's kind of like this gin gimlet with bourbon and a red wine float.

I'm not a wine guy, I hate wine, but this drink is amazing, and so at some point we will do this, the bespoke, and I'll show you guys how to float alcohol so you get those kind of layers, which is kind of cool. We'll do that at some point, but I don't know if we'll do that next week. If we don't do, mmm, basil, if we don't do tequila, maybe we'll do this book, bespoke. There's also a couple other, also there, also a couple of drinks I've got on tap. The funny part about this is I just realized today I think this is the fifth week in a row we've been doing this, and so, you know, hopefully at some point this ends, but as long as we're in this freaking lockdown, dude, like I'm doing this every week, and after the Lockdown, I mean do it anyway because I think it's kind of fun, it's cathartic at the end of the week, it's nice release.

You guys can watch me fool myself and hopefully learn how to make a good drink. Bartending, I've discovered, is super easy. It's funny, today I saw a Groupon for like a four dollar online bartending class and I'm not going, what the hell is they're gonna teach me, seriously, bartending is not hard, it's easy. Making drinks is easy, all you have to do is remember a few base components and then start from there, right, like the old fashioned, like the gimlet, those types of things, the Manhattan, start with the base and start adding things to it to make it what you want. But bartending is not a freaking black science, it's not, it's easy, it's a simple art to learn.

So I hope you guys enjoy these videos, I love making them because, like I said, it gives me something to do and look forward to on Fridays during this crazy time. Gin gimlets in the Tracy Gimlet and the Gibson variants, the Gibson gimlet. Hope you enjoyed them, hope you followed along with me and have enough amazing weekend. Be safe, be careful, do not mainline bleach or live salt, that's a very bad idea, so don't do those things.

Love you guys, I will talk to you. Well, if you guys, oh my god, I am drunk, by the way, and I highly recommend you do these on an empty stomach because it makes it so much better. I will talk to you guys next Friday, 4 o'clock p.m. Pacific time. Until then, have a great week, guys. Cheers.