| Cocktail | |
|---|---|
 Pink Gin | |
| Type | Cocktail |
| Base spirit | |
| Served |
|
| Standard garnish | lemon |
| Standard drinkware | .svg) |
| Commonly used ingredients |
|
| Preparation | Chill the glass, then coat the inside with the Bitters. Add the gin very well chilled, garnish and serve. |
| Notes | The traditional garnish is a shave of lemon rind. You can obtain this by removing about an inch strip of lemon rind with a potato peeler. |
Pink gin was historically used to refer to acocktail[1] made fashionable in England in the mid-19th century, consisting ofPlymouth gin[2] and a dash ofAngostura bitters, a dark red bitters that makes the whole drink pinkish. In recent years, the term Pink gin has also been used to define a specific category ofgin where a range of fruits and flavourings are infused into the gin to give it a pink color.[3]
Lemon rind is also commonly used as a garnish, with the citrusessential oils subtly complementing the flavour.
Pink gin is widely thought to have been created by members of theRoyal Navy. Plymouth gin is a 'sweet' gin, as opposed to London gin which is 'dry', and was added toAngostura bitters to make the consumption of Angostura bitters more enjoyable[4] as they were used as a treatment for sea sickness in 1824 by Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert.[5]
TheRoyal Navy then brought the idea for the drink to bars in England,[6] where this method of serving was first noted on the mainland. By the 1870s, gin was becoming increasingly popular and many of the finer establishments in England were serving pink gins.[citation needed]
A typical pink gin is one partgin and one dash of angostura bitters.
Though there are no major variations of pink gin, manybartenders vary the amount of angostura bitters used. Typically the drink is topped up with iced water, rarely without water.
A bartender may ask customers whether they want it "in or out", upon which the bartender swirls the angostura bitters around the glass before either leaving it in, or pouring it out (leaving only a residue), and then adding the gin.
It is also common for pink gin to be served as 'pink gin and tonic', typically consisting of 4 dashes of angostura bitters and 2 shots ofgin, which is then topped up withtonic water. This is served in ahighball glass over ice, and then can be garnished withlemon.[7]
Cedric Charles Dickens (great-grandson ofCharles Dickens) records inDrinking With Dickens that a 'Burnt Pink Gin' consists of 1 tsp Angostura set afire by heating over a flame and then poured into a large tot of dry gin, adding cold water to taste.[8]
