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Pink Gin is one of the oldest drinks still in circulation, and it is barely a mixed drink at all. Angostura bitters are swirled around the inside of the glass and tipped out, then room-temperature gin is poured in. What is left of the bitters is a faint blush on the glass and a trace of spice in the drink.
It comes from the Royal Navy, where Angostura was carried as a medicine for seasickness and stomach complaints, and gin was the practical way to make it drinkable. The rinse rather than the pour is the whole technique, and it is the same method behind the absinthe in a Sazerac: aroma and colour on the glass, without the volume or the sugar.
The no-ice instruction is not an oversight either. This was drunk neat and at room temperature aboard ship, and that is still how it is properly served.
Glass: White wine glass | Strength: Very strong | Serves: 1 | Prep Time: 2 minutes
Bartenders tip: Two ounces of neat gin is the entire drink, so this lives or dies on the bottle. Use a gin you would happily drink on its own. Tip the excess bitters out properly rather than leaving a puddle, or you get a bitter mouthful at the end instead of a trace throughout. If room-temperature neat gin is too austere, chilling the glass beforehand is the traditional concession, and it changes the drink far less than dropping ice in would.
Steps
- Pour the bitters into a white wine glass.
- Swirl to coat the inside of the glass, then shake out the excess.
- Pour in the gin.
- Do not add ice. Serve.
