Pimm's Cup Recipe
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Pimm’s No. 1 is a gin-based potation made in England from dry gin, liqueur, fruit juices, and spices. Served with lemon soda or ginger ale, it becomes a Pimm’s Cup. Pimm’s No. 1 was created in the mid-18th century by English oyster bar owner James Pimm. The recipe is still a secret; supposedly, only six people know exactly how it is made. It has a dark, golden brown color, a medium body, and a taste of quinine, citrus fruits, and spice. Its low alcohol content of only 25 percent has made Pimm’s a drink to have when you are having more than one. As was customary at the time, Pimm served the cocktail in tankards—hence the name Pimm’s Cup. The rage for this relative of the Sling became so great that Pimm mass-produced and bottled it along with Pimm’s 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6: whiskey, brandy, rum, rye, and vodka, respectively. Detractors have likened the earthy mixture to liquid dirt mellowed by iodine, but the Pimm’s Cup is still the traditional drink of Wimbledon, with visitors to the matches consuming some 40,000 pints a year. The addition of a cucumber slice gives the drink some truck as a health food. Some.
- 1/2-inch thick English cucumber wheel
- 1/2-inch thick lemon wheel
- 2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1
- 4 ounces 7UP, lemon-lime soda, or ginger ale
- lemon twist
isn't it always? ;)
Cool)
They have bitter lemon at Publix
@poindexter As a Brit, we (traditionally) never use Ginger Ale. We use what we call lemonade, but what you chaps would call Lemon soda. 7-Up is acceptable, but ideally we use a lemon only soda so Pellegrino is entirely acceptable!
Champagne is a better mixer though!
My favorite version is made with Schweppe's Bitter Lemon, but I have a heckuva time finding it. Now I see from another thread on this site that it's no longer available in the US. What a shame!
I'm sort of with you Poindexter, but I like San Pellegrino Aranciata with my Pimm's. Now that I live in New England I use Polar Seltzer Orange Dry, since it's easier to find.
Britt's might cringe and call me a spaghetti-eating Papist, but I've found that San Pelligrino's Limonata soda in lieu of 7-UP or ginger ale makes a mean Pimm's Cup. Ms. Poindexter insists you are supposed to garnish with edible borage flowers, but we can rarely find them.
This spring there was a great Pimms advert on UK telly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ6oqr...
I drink Pimms a good bit and like strong drinks, but never add any extra gin as it. Pimms already contains gin though not very much + I tend to drink a lot of it when it's been made and I find it's handy to be able to still stand up after a pitcher or two. I think in addition to cucumber, some mint and a squeeze of an orange wedge is essential. Sparkling lemonade is my mixer of choice. In the UK, I use Waitrose's sparkling italian lemonade and in the US I use San Pelegrino (sp) in lemon flavor.
Winter Pimms (Pimms No 4) is also a fav, though I tend to just make/have mulled wine on hand instead.
Must ask - has anyone had any of the other Pimm's - 2-6?
Pimm's Cup is the house drink at Napoleon House in the French Quarter.
Their recipe is
Pimm's Cup
Lemonade
Topped with a dash of 7-up and a cucumber slice.
Can't tell you exact proportions, but you can by Pimm's Cup glasses that have lines to show you where.
They come in a handy gift box too!
in the UK most pimms cups are made with (obviously) pimms, chopped cucumber, lemon, orange and sometimes mint and 'lemonade', which is what people in the UK refer to carbonated lemon flavored sodas such as 7-up, Sprite, etc.
I think the extra fruits (especially the mint), make the drink even more refreshing and interesting, so using a boring 7-up style mixer is acceptable, but then i've never tried it with ginger ale.
How do you make the Pimm's Cup with bitter lemon? I've heard tons of different recipes... Do you use cointreau? Do you garnish?
Thanks!
I make mine with lemonade (NOT Newman's Own - it has HFCS!) and club soda, as well as cuke slices, lemon slices, and mint. And strawberries if I'm feeling extra festive. My friend studied at Oxford for a year and got me hooked on this when she came back bearing many bottles of Pimm's!
I confess, I have turned a lot of people on to my inaccurate version - half ginger ale, half Fresca. Got to have the slice of lemon and cucumber. My poor neighbors will never know what a real Pimm's cup is.......
Sparkling lemonade can be found at TJ's or WF. I like regular lemonade and club soda (tones down the sweetness a bit)
A few weeks ago my husband and I went to a bar and for some reason he tried to order a Pimm's cup. The waitress got a blank look on her face, and said "Pimp's cup? What's that?" Even the bartender had no clue, so we gave up and make them at home!
When I had it in England, it was often made with sparkling lemonade with some mint leaves added. I prefer it that way, although I do like it with some added gin for oomph.
One of my FAV drinks wherever I am in London on Holidays
I have made Pimm's topped off with champagne. I add the apple slice, cucumber and other condiments. It is perfect, but does make your guests zombielike.
Apologizing in advance for getting a bit off topic here, but I found Bitter Lemon in Austin, woohoo.
The Spec's on Brodie has schweppes as well as some other brands. I haven't tried it with Pimm's yet, but it I did enjoy it with Broker's Gin.
Now that I think of it, the Napoleon House version was about 2 fingers of Pimms and the rest 50/50 7-Up and lemonade, which was apparently how it originally was made. The original Pimms Cup also had borage leaves, whatever those are, which were replaced by the cucumber slice.
http://www.greenehighway.com/features...
I guess it kinda comes down to how a drink evolves depending on people's tastes. The original Martini was 50/50 gin/vermouth, something far too wet for contemporary tastes.
I've had the version at the Napoleon House. Great atmosphere in which to drink one, but their very obvious use of 7-Up made their version the worst tasting Pimms Cup I have ever had. I'll try Bitter Lemon, out of curiosity, but I have never had this in the UK with anything other than ginger ale and I have always assumed that is the "authentic" way to serve this drink.
I'll second Bitter Lemon. Canada Dry still makes the stuff.
http://www.popsoda.com/candrybitlem.html
The one that's impossible to find is Bitter Orange. Also, I used to like the ginger ale version of the Pimms Cup until I tried it at Napoleon House in New Orleans (they use 7UP). Now, when I can't find Bitter Lemon, I go with 7UP. DO NOT USE SPRITE! The excessive sugar in Sprite ruins the drink.
I can't find Bitter Lemon anywhere around here (Austin, TX). Do they still make it?
Schweppes Bitter Lemon is the perfect mixer from my perspective.
I have had this drink made many ways, both in the UK and the US, but I think the best version is made with ginger ale.