Gin Rickey Recipe

This tall, tart cooler is one of the great joys of summer.

By
Paul Clarke
Paul Clarke
Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
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Updated Mar. 15, 2019
A gin rickey in a highball glass with a lime wedge on the rim. The glass is on a wood cutting board with a blue napkin, three other lime wedges, and a green hinged citrus juicer.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

If you look at the gin rickey and think it's nothing but a gin and tonic without tonic's bittersweet bite, you'd be mostly correct. Dismiss it as a G&T wannabe, however, and you're missing out on one of the great joys of summer. Created in a Washington, D.C., bar called Shoemaker's during an especially brutal heat wave in the 1890s—before the advent of air conditioning, you'll note—the gin rickey is like an effervescent Frigidaire. Refreshingly bubbly and pleasantly bitter, this Gilded Age cooler demonstrates how your great-grandparents made it through the summer alive.

Recipe Details

Gin Rickey Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Total 5 mins
Serves 1 serving

This tall, tart cooler is one of the great joys of summer.

Ingredients

  • Half a well-washed lime

  • 2 ounces London dry gin

  • Chilled club soda

  • Optional: splash simple syrup

Directions

  1. Fill a 10-ounce Collins glass with ice. Squeeze lime into the glass, getting as much juice out of it as you can. Toss in the lime shell, then add gin. Top off glass with club soda. The rickey doesn't need it, but if you like a sweeter drink, add splash of simple syrup.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
144 Calories
0g Fat
5g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories 144
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 3mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 5g 2%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 18mg 91%
Calcium 25mg 2%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 72mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)