The Pimm’s Cup is a sweet and spicy and herbaceous drink, a complex cocktail with lots of flavors crashing around all at once in a way that shouldn’t really work but totally does. This drink, an import from England, is most properly a summer drink, but since English summers are on par with DC springs, go ahead and knock one back this weekend. – Andrew

Illustration by Caitlin Keegan

Pimm’s Cup

2 oz Pimm’s No 1
3/4 oz. Cointreau
3/4 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
3-4 Cucumber Slices
1 Bunch Mint
Lemonade

Combine the Pimm’s, Cointreau, and lime juice in a highball glass filled with ice. Add the cucumber slices and mint (or berries and citrus wheels or pretty much whatever else you want, this can be a real smorgasbord of a drink). Top with lemonade – in this case, the British-style carbonated lemon-lime soda type of lemonade – or some ginger beer for a richer, spicier Pimm’s Cup. Enjoy!

Pimm’s No. 1 – invented by Englishman James Pimm back in 1823 – is essentially a gin-based cocktail in a bottle, though it’s marketed as a liqueur. Its recipe remains, to my knowledge, a trade secret, though there are all sorts of herbs, fruits, and spices involved. It has a bittersweet and very herbal flavor that makes it a great addition to cocktails but not particularly tasty on its own.

 

Sometime after Pimm started mixing up his No. 1 Cup, some other Englishman (or Englishwoman) had the great idea of further mixing Pimm’s with some lemonade and a whole bunch of fruit and the Pimm’s Cup, England’s favorite summer cocktail, was born. There’s no one Pimm’s Cup recipe out there, and lots of permutations to play with (I borrowed this one, one of my favorites, from the Employees Only bar in NYC), so experiment!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper