Dry shake, wet shake, strain into a coupe
“that which I have seene most fruitful is sower [sour] oranges and lemons . . . I wish that some learned man would write of it [scurvy], for it is the plague of the sea, and the spoyle of mariners.”
— Sir Richard Hawkins, 1590
A gimlet is a small hand drill, meant (back when things were still sealed in barrels) to drill a hole in a barrel and let whatever was put inside out. A gimlet pierces things, and so people with a sharp gaze were “gimlet-eyed”. A Gimlet also pierces. Made from gin and lime, it’s meant to be a short, sharp drink tossed down the hatch, but modern, craft oriented bartenders take one look at the neon-green, corn syrup filled Rose’s lime juice that’s supposed to go into the drink and think about either making their own lime cordial or simply substituting fresh lime juice and sugar. And I don’t think they’re wrong.
Excellent, herbal, funky, fruity. Used passion fruit syrup cause I had no pulp and it's still great.
Skipped agave syrup, subbed mossy Oaxacan forest mist spray (from Shaker and Sppon) for Douglas fir eat de vie, and subbed dry curaçao for the blue stuff. The Del Maguey seemed to flatten it our a bit so I added a squeeze of lime which worked for me.
3/4oz + of Honey Syrup
The slightly mossy gray/green is what I get with R&W Creme de Violette and St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram that I used. The 1/2 oz total of floral components (violet and elderflower) turns the drink into "A Florist" more than "A Forest" though. It isn't unpleasant, but the floral components dominate. Maybe cutting them to a barspoon each and adding some Zirbenz or Douglas Fir eau de vie would shift the balance?
Old Tom Gin works well here.