Pink Gin

Three Act Tragedy, Agatha Christie, 1934

1½ oz. gin

2 to 3 dashes of Angostura Bitters

1 strip of lemon peel

Pinch of lemon zest, for garnish

Place the gin and bitters in a rocks glass filled with ice and stir until chilled.

Express the strip of lemon peel over the cocktail and then discard the lemon peel.

Garnish with the lemon zest and enjoy.

“Upsettin’ sort of time, wasn’t it?” he said. “Up in Yorkshire, I mean. Something rather amusin’ about a doctor being poisoned—you see what I mean—wrong way about. A doctor’s a chap who poisons other people.”

He laughed uproariously at his own remark and ordered another pink gin.

Another Poirot mystery, this time involving the mysterious death of a clergyman, Reverend Babbington, after drinking some port. And yet, there are no traces of poison in the glass. A second death, that of Sir Charles Strange, only adds to the mystery. Captain Dacres considers the whole thing rather amusing, as this little scene shows, and orders another Pink Gin.

The Pink Gin seems to have originated in the British Navy in the 1820s, and is simplicity itself, being simply a blend of gin with a dash of dark red Angostura Bitters, which give the drink its pink color. More modern versions sometimes use ice, soda, and citrus slices as garnishes, but the original recipe is perfectly fine on its own, especially when foul play is afoot.