Pimm's No. 1 and the Pimm's Cup

FIRST, IT MUST BE SAID that there doesn't seem to be a Minnesota bartender who can make a proper Pimm's Cup. Now, to be fair, that doesn't point to a lack of sophistication on the part of local mixologists. We've sampled Pimm's Cups across the United States, and Yanks just don't seem to know how to make this distinctly English cocktail. Even at the Napoleon House in New Orleans, which has made the Pimm's Cup it's signature drink, they don't get it quite right.

We'll go into the reasons for this in a moment, but, first, let us introduce you to Pimm's No. 1, the liquor behind the Pimm's cup. You'll find it in a number of local bars, but, often as not, if you request the drink, you'll discover the bottle has never been opened. We presume it is kept on hand for English tourists, for whom Pimm's is a favorite summer alcohol.

Simply put, Pimm's is an infused gin. Nobody is completely certain what it is infused with, or, at least, nobody but the seven some-odd people in the world who are entrusted with its recipe. The alcohol is subtler than a proper gin, with very little of the typical juniper taste. It is tea colored, and tastes strongly of herbs and fruits. Wikipedia claims that the taste of Pimm's can be approximated with gin, triple sec, and sweet vermouth; we haven't tried it, and do not plan to, but this should give you some sense of the flavor.

Pimm's was originally marketed as digestive tonic by a fellow named James Pimm, who owned an oyster bar in London in the early 1800s. We're told it contains quinine, but we must assume this is in small quantities as Pimm's No. 1 is far from bitter. Drunk straight, it has a strongly herbal flavor, and is sweet, although it does have a slightly medicinal nose and aftertaste.

You may be wondering why the alcohol is numbered. After World War II, the Pimm's Distillery offered a series of Pimm's liquors, each with a different alcohol base: No. 2 was whiskey based, for example, while No. 3 was an infused brandy. Most of these have ceased production, although the current owner of the distillery, Diageo, does offer small batches of No. 6, which is vodka based, and produces a seasonal version of No. 3, now called Pimm's Winter Cup.

Let us take a moment now to discuss why Pimm's Cup is called a "cup," as it will point out the problem with the way most American bartenders serve the drink. A cup is a specific sort of cocktail, generally one mixed in a large bowl and served with seasonal fruits, a sort of hard liquor version of a sangria or wine cooler. The Pimm's Cup requires a selection of fruits and herbs, and, yet, American bartenders serve them without either, sometimes even neglecting to add a garnish. They often serve the drink in a lowball glass, even though the instructions for a basic Pimm's Cup are printed on the back of the bottle, and explicitly call for a tall glass.

The recipe on the back of the bottle forget to include cucumber, a criminal mistake. While a proper Pimm's Cup should be made with borage leaves, most bars won't carry them -- in fact, you'd be hard pressed to find this Syrian herb in the United States, although it is quite common in Europe. No matter, though, as borage tastes quite a lot like cucumber. So much so that London pubs generally substitute cucumber for borage during the Wimbledon tennis tournament, when as many as 15,000 Pimm's Cups are served per day. The substitution is allowable, and forgivable, but a Pimm's Cup must have borage or cucumber. Without it, it's not a Pimm's Cup.

Mind you, this isn't just a vestigal affectation of cocktail snobs, and something the drink can do without. Pimm's takes the flavor of cucumber exceptionally well; without it, the cocktail is missing one of the flavors that defines it. If you receive your Pimm's Cup without cucumber, or in a lowball glass, send it back. And the cucumber should be more than a garnish. Several wheels of cucumber, or even wedges, should be in the drink.

Now, there is the issue of what to mix Pimm's No. 1 with to make a genuine Pimm's Cup. Properly, it should be mixed with British Lemonade. This tends to confuse the subject, as, in England, Lemonade is a lemon flavored soda, similar to 7-Up, but without the lime. There's no real equivalent here. 7-Up works fine. Some bartenders use American lemonade, which, to our tastes, loses the effervescence of a true Pimm's cup. If you use this lemonade, top it off with seltzer, and add some lemon wedges to the cocktail. Actually, whatever you use, add some lemon wedges to the cocktail. Some people like to make their Pimm's Cup with ginger ale. We did for years, and it's delicious, but a proper Pimm's Cup should have a strong lemon flavor.

A bartender can do all this right (it is, essentially, what you get at the Napoleon House), and the resulting cocktail will be quite flavorful, but it still won't be a Pimm's Cup. The last step, the step that makes it a proper "cup" cocktail, is the addition of fruits and herbs, as we've mentioned. Typically, the drink will have a sprig of mint and slices of green apple added in. Orange and strawberry are also popular additions, although strawberry, in particular, is considered blasphemous by some, and an Internet petition has started to discourage this practice. This is really a matter of taste, and best left up to experimentation, but the resulting drink should look a little like a fruit cocktail has been tossed in. The Pimm's Cup also requires a lot of ice, and this is why it must be served in a tall glass. The taller the better.

When mixing the drink, add one part Pimm's No. 1 to three parts Lemonade. It's a good idea to put all the ingredients, including ice, in a pitcher or shaker and stir or shake them -- you want the fruits and herbs slightly bruised, releasing their flavor. Also, if you simply pour the Pimms and Lemonade into a tall glass with ice, it's going to be quite a trick to get the various fruits and herbs into the drink. There is some speculation that the historic Pimm's was stronger than the current version -- some people even add extra gin to their Pimm's Cups, which you may do if you please.

The resulting cocktail is exceptionally flavorful and refreshing -- it's no wonder the Pimm's Cup is so popular a drink in the United Kingdom. As to why it hasn't caught on in the United States, well, who knows? Made improperly, the Pimm's Cup is a good drink, but not so good that people might go out of their way to try it. And to make it right, chances are you will have to instruct your bartender every step of the way. We at the Bottle Gang always keep a bottle of Pimm's No. 1 at home, along with the various sundry ingredients for the cocktail; we recommend you do too. The weather is getting hot, and a Pimm's Cup is just the thing to relieve the heat. But unless you're willing to make it yourself, you're probably not going to get a proper drink. (SPARBER)