In the 1953 mystery The Long Goodbye, a character declares: 'A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's lime juice, and nothing else.
Author Raymond Chandler probably did, doing for the gimlet what Ian Fleming did for the martini. The sailors probably didn't enjoy their libation shaken with ice, though, the preferred preparation method today. This classic cocktail was delivered into the annals of mixology by British sailors who stirred together medicinal rations of Rose's lime juice and gin, discovering that it was possible to catch a nice buzz and ward off scurvy in one swing of the boom.
For such a simple drink, the gimlet has a salty history.
