The Gimlet’s history was first recorded in print when Harry MacElhone included the recipe in his ‘ABC’s of Mixing Cocktails’ (1922) as one half Coates Plymouth gin and one half Rose’s Lime Cordial with the instructions to “Stir and serve in the same glass. Can be iced” and a short note saying it was a popular drink in the Navy. But 1922 wasn’t the gimlet’s first mention in print. In his memoirs, Admiral Albert Gleaves of the United States Navy mentioned that while on a visit to Tientsin, China in September of 1920, ‘I was served a new drink called a gimlet – a mild affair of gin, lime juice and water.’ (http://www.creative-culinary.com)
Another theory is that the drink was named after British Royal Navy Surgeon Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette KCB (1857-1943), who allegedly introduced this drink as a means of inducing his messmates to take lime juice as an anti-scurvy medication. (Limes and other citrus fruit have been used by the Royal Navy for the prevention of scurvy since the mid-18th century.) However, neither his obituary notice in The Times (6 October 1943) nor his entry in Who Was Who 1941–1950 mention this association.
2 1/2 ounces Gin
3/4 once Rose's Cordial
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