The gimlet… what a drink. It has many things I enjoy in a cocktail, gin, the taste of lime (sort of), an intriguing colour and the British Navy. It is also the only current exception to drinkskultur rule #5. Shaken together vigorously it is delightful, refreshing, crisp and packs quite a punch. In order for you to have one while reading this, yes I do insist, I’ll start with the recipe.
I was originally going to name this post “Diving With the Mohawks”, then “Every Dive Makes You Better”, but I settled on “Cold Ass Honky”, because I really, really was. Not in a Macklemore way either, more in the thermocline and water at 5 degrees centigrade (41F) kind of way. Without exaggerating one tiny bit, it felt like little needles of burning pain all over my body. You know you’re in trouble when you’re the only guy at the bottom without a dry suit. Still well worth it though, that’s diving for you.
For all its surface simplicity, the gin & tonic, or G&T as most of the world calls it, is a storied and romantic drink. If you get past the sizeable evils of empire building, it conjures up images of adventurous and perspiring colonials in far away places, keeping a stiff and sweaty upper lip, while wearing tropical tuxedos or pith helmets and pretending they have not been exiled for some darkness of deed or birth. The more exotic corners of Victoria’s empire always had a roguish, if not outright anything goes, feel about them, and you probably did not become second deputy lieutenant governor of central Australia because of your breeding, brilliance, spotless record or scandal free life. The “A team” likely stayed in London.
It may come as a shock to the one British visitor of this blog, but Pimm’s is not universally well known. Not known at all in fact, even in this former corner of the Empire. I had to order it special just to get my hands on two bottles, I know right? Apparently however, it has been quite popular in New Orleans for decades, to the point that it is sometimes claimed as a purely local Big Easy drink. Cough, cough. Philistines. Cough.
I’m curious what you guys think about tipping in dive shops. I really am.
If there was a D&C dive shop I think we’d have a sign saying “Unless it’s about the new hot place in town, we don’t take tips”. Yes, we would probably have to charge more. I wonder if that would fly.