Gimlet, Bar Kakinuma, Kagurazaka (ギムレット Bar柿沼, 神楽坂), Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

Well-balanced Gimlet, developed recipe in Japan

About the bar.

Gimlet is one of the famous cocktails in bar counters. I have very few experiences to have nice Gimlet overseas.

The Gimlet of Bar Kakinuma is very sophisticated. The colour of his cocktail is foggy white like frost glass from Lalique. The taste and flavour of ingredient show lovely marriage in the glass. Sweetness from powder sugar, sour from lime and bitter from Gin were well-balanced and the flavours like flower, herb and lime show the “Blenhuim bouquet” from Penhaligon’s.

The Gimlet of Bar Kakinuma

 

There were some theories on the recipes of Gimlet. According to the Savoy cocktail book, one of the bible of bartenders, there were two different descriptions on the Gimlet.

-      GIMBLET COCKTAIL: 1/4 Lime Juice. 3/4 Dry Gin. Shake well and strain into medium-size glass: fill up with soda water.

-      GIMLET COCKTAIL: 1/2 Burrough’s Plymouth Gin, 1/2 Rose’s Lime Juice Cordial. Stir and serve in same glass. Can be iced if desired.

Gimblet recipe is similar to the modern Gin Fizz. The classical style of Gimlet was use with lime juice cordial as the recipe of Hotel Okura Tokyo. The sweetness of this juice will break the good point from ingredients of this cocktail.

The cocktail recipes of Gimlet in Japan showed the fusion of traditional Gimblet and Gimlet described on the books. The reason is, buying and storing the fresh lime juice is very easy for citizens in developed countries.

The glass of Bar Kakinuma