Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Gothic Bar’s Red Nose Gimlet
Gothic Bar’s red nose gimlet. Photograph: Rob Lawson/The Guardian. Drinks styling: Seb Davis.
Gothic Bar’s red nose gimlet. Photograph: Rob Lawson/The Guardian. Drinks styling: Seb Davis.

Cocktail of the week: Gothic Bar’s red nose gimlet – recipe

A festive and fancy gin and lime with hints of cinnamon, a hit of apricot brandy and a sherbet-frosted rim

There’s a bit of prep involved here – you need to make the syrup a day ahead, for instance – but this is a great drink for impressing guests. If you opt to rim the glasses with lime sherbet, either buy some in ready-made or make your own by finely crushing a few lemon drop sweets in a mortar – dip the rim of the glass first in lime juice and then in the lemon drop dust. The excess syrup will keep in the fridge for about a month – use it up in puddings, apple-based ones especially.

Red nose gimlet

Serves 1

For the cinnamon syrup
70g caster sugar
½ cinnamon stick

For the drink
25ml sloe gin – we use Hepple’s sloe & hawthorn gin
20ml apricot brandy
12½ml lime cordial
– we use Rose’s
12½ml fresh lime juice
5ml cinnamon syrup
– see above and method
Lime sherbet, bought in or homemade (see introduction), to rim the glass (optional)

First make the syrup. Put the sugar in a small saucepan, add 70ml water and bring to a simmer. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then take off the heat, add the cinnamon and leave to infuse overnight. Strain into a clean jar, seal and store in the fridge for up to a month. These quantities make more than enough syrup, but any that’s excess to requirements works brilliantly as a sugar or glaze replacement in desserts, or in hot toddies, tea and even coffee or hot chocolate.

To build the drink, measure all the liquids into a shaker, add ice, then shake hard. Single strain into a nick & nora glass – if you like, rim it with sherbet first – then serve.

Comments (…)

Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion

Most viewed

Most viewed