I want a Pimm's Cup.

Last night, I fell in love with a bottle of gin.

I've had love affairs with vodka and spiced rum in the past, the former ending not so pleasantly, and the latter currently in the stages of "I'm just not that into you anymore."

Beer remains a constant companion, but usually in small doses, preferably served with a slice of something citrusy and a bag of pork rinds, and enjoyed outside, in the heat, on a porch.

I've stayed far away from whiskey, seeing with my own two eyes how it does bad things to good people. And a bottle of gin, when consumed almost in its entirety by a certain houseguest, has been known to lead to broken apple corers and a urine-stained bath mat.

Despite that last unfortunate experience, I bought a bottle last night. Technically, the first actual bottle I got was over the weekend, after I suddenly declared "I want a Pimm's Cup" while driving home from the mall with Murdo on Saturday, and because he never opposes a good drink (or any drink, really), he took me to the liquor store shortly thereafter.

Pimm's No. 1 Cup is a British gin-based liqueur flavored with hints of herbs and citrus. I first read about it over at Orangette, and while I wasn't too interested in the drink recipe itself, I liked the way the bottle looked and the way Pimm's sounded, so I stored the name away for later. Then I heard someone order a Pimm's Cup in an episode of "Boardwalk Empire," and Murdo remembers the drink from an episode of "Californication" (yes, we watch a lot of TV), and if the drink managed to make its way from the Atlantic City Prohibition era to Venice Beach, California, circa 2009, well, I wanted to try it. This recent post over at Shutterbean sealed the deal.

The recipe on the back of the bottle mixes Pimm's with ginger ale and a lemon twist, and it's a very good drink -- crisp, refreshing, tasty. You can't even really tell you're drinking alcohol, and not in the way that can get you in trouble, but in the way that there actually isn't that much alcohol in the drink to begin with. Which is my main problem with it.

So last night I bought a bottle of Tanqueray, and I added the gin with the Pimm's, and had two glasses of the stuff, and then slept very, very well. The shot of gin adds an extra kick that says, "Oh yeah, this is a grownup drink," at least to me anyway, the girl who has been ordering Captain and Diets for so long it's kind of embarrassing.

I don't have a photo of the drink to share with you. Sorry. But I figure you already know what a cocktail looks like, so I don't feel that bad. Instead, I'll leave you with these photos that have nothing to do with cocktails, and everything to do with the Filipino food (adobo ribs, fresh lumpia, beef mechado, blue crabs) and blackberry almond tart (made by Jenny) that I ate over the weekend with my family. Yeah, it was a good weekend.

But first, the recipe:

Pimm's Cup
This is more like a combination of Pimm's Cup and Pimm's Turbo, which mixes Pimm's No. 1 with gin and lemonade. But Pimm's Cup is so much more fun to say. You can find more Pimm's recipes here.


1.5 ounces Pimm's No. 1 Cup
1.5 ounces Tanqueray gin
7-Up or ginger ale
lemon slice

Fill a tall glass halfway with ice. Add the Pimm's and the gin. Fill the rest of the glass with 7-up or ginger ale. Garnish with a lemon slice. Drink it up. Repeat as needed.