Properly Sauced: Gin Fix

By Rob Christopher in Food on Mar 15, 2010 6:20PM

We picked up this little beauty over the weekend at Open Books, the cool River North bookstore we told you about back in January. Printed in 1957 by the Peter Pauper Press of Mt. Vernon, New York, Aquavit to Zombie is a mini-encyclopedia of spirits and drink recipes compiled by Peter Beilenson with charming illustrations by Ruth McCrea. We were curious to see how one of the recipes would stand up, so we made ourselves a gin fix.

David Wondrich dates the "fix" type of cocktail to around 1856. Beilenson describes it thus:

Like a Daisy, a drink of the sour type, made with fruit-flavored sweetening in a mug or goblet filled with crushed ice (work the ingredients with a spoon until the mug is frosted), decorated with fruit and mint. Serve with straw.

Then a recipe is given, which we faithfully executed. It's amazingly simple to make and very refreshing.

Gin Fix

1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur
1 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 small lime or half of a large lime)
3 oz. gin

Add ingredients to a large ice-filled glass of your choosing. Then, while holding the glass with one hand, stir vigorously with a spoon until frosted. Garnish (or not) with fruit and mint.

The wonderful thing about the fix is how flexible it is. As long as you keep the proportions the same, you can experiment with different combinations of fruit cordials and spirits. Try crème de cassis with gin, orange liqueur with whiskey, even Koval's ginger liqueur with brandy. You can also use lemon juice instead of lime juice. With the magic balance that's built into the recipe the end result should never be either too sweet or too stiff. We can't wait till summer's here and we can garnish our gin fix with some fresh berries.