Cooking Lesson #742: Death in the Gulf Stream Cocktail

…from the Perspectives’ Happy Hour Bar

​How you doin’?  Death in the Gulf Stream Cocktail—funny  name, funny story, funny drink. It was a favorite drink of Ernest Hemingway's… but then he had so many favorite cocktails. The drink first appeared in Charles Baker's Gentleman's Companion. Baker's description of the drink is classic.
 
Take a tall thin water tumbler and fill it with finely cracked ice. Lace this broken debris with 4 good purple splashes of Angostura, add the juice and crushed peel of 1 green lime, and fill the glass almost full of Holland gin... No sugar, no fancying. It's strong, it's bitter—but so is English ale strong and bitter, in many cases. We don't add sugar to ale, and we don't need sugar in a Death in The Gulf Stream—or at least not more than 1 tsp. Its tartness and its bitterness are its chief charm. It is reviving and refreshing; cools the blood and inspires renewed interest in food, companions and life.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Yield:  1 cocktail
 
Ingredients 
1 fresh lime peel zest
1 tablespoon fresh key lime juice
4 dashes Angostura bitters
1 teaspoon simple syrup (if you must)
3 ounces Bols’s gin
 
Directions

1. Fill a tall chimney-style glass nearly full of crushed ice.
2. Add the lime peel zest, lime juice, bitters and simple syrup (if using).
3. Top with gin and stir.
4. Serve immediately.

ChefSecret:  Holland gin, of course, is Genever, and the version from Bols works well here. I agree with Baker that too much sugar ruins this drink, but I like my cocktails drier than most drinkers do. If you can find key limes, use them here. If not, a typical supermarket lime will do.

Quip of the Day:  A true friend reaches for your hand … and puts a glass of gin in it.
 
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