What they call a gimlet is just some lime or lemon juice and gin with a dash of sugar and bitters. A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats martinis hollow.

Terry Lennox to Philip Marlowe, in Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye

The apocrypha of eponyms attributes the gimlet to one Surgeon Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette who served in the Royal Navy from 1879-1917. At this time, a daily ration of lime juice was prescribed for the prevention of scurvy; gin was the preferred hard liquor of the wardroom (the officers' mess). This mixture, of two ingredients with purported medicinal value, must have been common to many of His Majesty’s Ships.

The gimlet is an elegant, pale green, slightly cloudy, cocktail. The sour of the lime juice covers the bite of the gin; the sweetness of the lime juice carries the finish of the drink.

Pour ingredients over crushed ice and shake.
Strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a wheel of lime.
This is another drink that I mix for my housemate who prefers sweet drinks; it is one of the only ways she will drink gin.

conform suggests I discuss the phenomenon of the so-called "vodka gimlet":
As with many gin drinks, one may desire to substitute vodka for gin. The resultant pale simulacrum generally exhibits a dearth of complexity and is a lamprey upon the soul.

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