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Prep time
13 hours 2 minutes
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Cook time
5 minutes
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Serves
1
Author Notes
No one really knows exactly what Pimm’s No. 1 is made of. The recipe for the gin-based liquor was developed centuries ago, and it’s still a secret. What we do know is that it’s delicious and worthy of replication. Rob Brouse’s nonalcoholic version takes some work, but the pleasantly bitter, refreshing product is everything that’s good about a Pimm’s Cup. You could use all rooibos or all black tea, but I like the combination. The nonnegotiable: Whatever tea you use, it must be loose-leaf. A powder or the finer leaves in a sachet will make your drink too bitter. —Julia Bainbridge
Test Kitchen Notes
Reprinted with permission from Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You’re Not Drinking for Whatever Reason by Julia Bainbridge, copyright © 2020. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. —The Editors
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Ingredients
- "Pimm’s" Crown
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3 ounces
“Pimm’s” (recipe follows)
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1/4 ounce
freshly squeezed lime juice
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3 dashes
of rhubarb bitters, such as Fee Brothers
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3 ounces
good-quality ginger ale, such as Goslings
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1 sprig
of mint, for garnish
- “Pimm’s”
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2
oranges
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2
lemons
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2
limes
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3/4 cup
granulated sugar
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3/4 cup
loose-leaf rooibos tea
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1/3 cup
loose-leaf black tea, such as Assam or English Breakfast
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4
dried juniper berries
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1 teaspoon
gentian root
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1 1/4 ounces
raspberry vinegar
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5 dashes
orange bitters
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2 pinches
fine sea salt
Directions
- "Pimm’s" Crown
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Combine the “Pimm’s,” lime juice, and bitters in a cock- tail shaker. Fill with ice, seal the shaker, and shake for 10 to 15 seconds, until well chilled. Double-strain into a footed glass and top with ginger ale. Garnish with the mint sprig
- “Pimm’s”
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Remove the peels from the oranges, lemons, and limes, leaving the white pith behind. Reserve the meat of the fruit for another use.
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In a medium pot, combine the citrus peels with the sugar, teas, juniper berries, gentian root, vinegar, bitters, salt, and 3 cups water. Bring the mixture just to a simmer over medium- high heat. Remove the pot from the heat and let the ingredients steep for 1 hour. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, or up to 24.
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The next day, fine-strain the mixture and discard the solids. Store the “Pimm’s” in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Julia Bainbridge is an editor who has worked at Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit, Yahoo Food, and Atlanta Magazine and a James Beard Award-nominated writer whose stories have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among others. Her book, Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You're Not Drinking for Whatever Reason, was named one of the best cookbooks of 2020 by the Los Angeles Times and Wired and Esquire magazines. Julia is the recipient of the Research Society on Alcoholism's 2021 Media Award and she is one of Food & Wine magazine's 25 first-annual "Game Changers" for being "a pivotal voice in normalizing not drinking alcohol."
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