The Gin Rickey: Washington D.C.'s Crisp Highball

The Gin Rickey is Washington D.C.'s official cocktail — a bracingly crisp, unsweetened highball of gin, fresh lime, and soda water, built over ice in a Collins glass, a drink invented steps from the White House in the late 1800s and named for the Democratic lobbyist who never sweetened it. According to Washington.org, the Rickey is a refreshing highball made with gin or bourbon, fresh lime juice, and soda water, invented in the late 1800s just steps from the White House and named Washington D.C.'s official cocktail. Wikipedia) notes that the rickey is a highball made from gin or bourbon, lime juice, and carbonated water, with little or no sugar added — and that it was originally created with bourbon before the gin version became the enduring favorite.

The genius of the Gin Rickey is the absence of sugar: where the Gin & Tonic has sweetness and quinine, and the Tom Collins has sugar, the Rickey is deliberately austere — gin, lime, soda, nothing else — and that austerity is its character, a bone-dry, effervescent, lime-forward highball that is the most refreshing thing on a hot afternoon.

About the Ingredients

Gin — a London Dry (Beefeater, Tanqueray, or Gordon's); the gin's juniper backbone is the structure, and a clean, dry gin is right.

Lime — fresh-squeezed lime juice (the half-lime, juiced and dropped in); the lime is the only flavor besides the gin, so it must be fresh and bright.

Soda water — chilled club soda, the largest component; it provides the lift and the effervescence that characterizes the highball.

Ice — a tall Collins glass filled with ice; the drink is meant to be cold and crisp.

No sugar — the defining absence; the Rickey is intentionally unsweetened, and that dryness is the point.

Ingredients (makes 1): - 2 oz gin - ½ oz fresh lime juice (about half a lime) - 4–5 oz chilled soda water - Ice

Instructions: Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add the gin and the fresh lime juice; squeeze the spent lime half into the glass and drop it in. Top with chilled soda water. Stir gently once. Serve with a straw.

The Mimosa Pairing Logic: The Gin Rickey's bone-dry, lime-forward crispness wants a mimosa with bright, citrusy lift and minimal sweetness. A grapefruit rosemary mimosa is the perfect echo — the grapefruit's dry bitterness mirrors the Rickey's austerity and the rosemary adds aromatic depth. A classic Champagne mimosa is the bright cousin, its orange acidity a clean, citrusy sibling of the lime. This is the brunch equivalent of a Gin Rickey on a D.C. terrace and a mimosa at the table — a toast to Colonel Rickey and the capital's official cocktail.

Reference Links: - History of the Rickey Cocktail (Washington D.C., official cocktail, gin or bourbon, lime, soda): Washington.org - Rickey (cocktail) (highball, gin or bourbon, lime, carbonated water, no sugar): Wikipedia)

Make-Ahead: The Gin Rickey is built to order and the soda water must be added last, so don't batch the whole drink — but you can pre-juice limes and pre-chill the gin and soda. For a brunch, set out gin, limes, a juicer, soda, and ice and let guests build their own; the build is dead simple. Chill the soda water and Collins glasses; warm ingredients make a flat, dull Rickey. The drink is meant to be drunk quickly, while the soda is lively and the lime bright.

Pro Tips: Do not add sugar — the Rickey's defining character is its dryness, and a sweetened Rickey is just a Tom Collins; if you want sweetness, you want a different drink. Use fresh lime juice, never bottled — the lime is half the drink, and bottled juice is flat. Chill the soda water thoroughly; warm soda goes flat instantly and kills the effervescence that characterizes the highball. Drop the squeezed lime half into the glass — it continues to infuse the drink and is the classic look. Top with soda and stir gently once; over-stirring kills the bubbles. Use a clean, dry London Dry gin; a botanical or aged gin muddies the crispness.