Southside

This is without a doubt the most crowd pleasing cocktail I’ve ever made and it’s a great go-to drink in warmer months.

When people drink it, they feel like they are drinking something special. It’s refreshing and balanced, and will feel like a major upgrade to anyone who’s default is a gin tonic (not to hate on gin tonics, they are great, especially with a dash of bitters).

If you’re new to cocktails I highly recommend starting with this one. It’s really easy to make and requires few ingredients, but is still impressive and will allow you to practice using barware and working with ratios of ingredients.

2 oz gin
0.66 oz simple syrup
0.75 oz lime
5-6 mint leaves
dash of bitters

Shake all the ingredients with ice, then strain it into a coupe. Garnish with one mint leaf. Voila, it’s amazing.

A few relevant tips that I’ve learned over time.

For gin, I always use Beefeater. It’s a great price-value ratio and blends well in most mixed drinks.

For limes, I choose lighter colour limes, as these are sweeter. My absolute favorite limes are the ones from Lufa Farms. Never, ever use bottled lime juice. If you want to understand why, do a simple taste test: sip some fresh lime juice, and then sip some of the bottled stuff. Right? Yeah, never ever.

If you like Southsides, you’ll probably also like
Basil Gimlet • gin, lime, basil
Classic Daquiri • white rum, lime
Gypsy Eyes • gin, aperol, grapefruit, lime
Fitzgerald • gin, lemon