Effervescence, lemon, juniper
Think of this as a fancy boozy lemonade. Pair it with celery and dip, pretzels, and other salty fare.
Fizzes enjoyed a heyday in the early 1900s, when teams of bartenders, called “shaker boys,” took turns preparing these cocktails for their fashionable patrons. We like to use mineral water for livelier bubbles, but club soda works as well. It’s worth noting that a drink called the Gin Punch appears in the 1862 edition of Jerry Thomas’s Bon-Vivant’s Companion with these same ingredients, plus maraschino liqueur. By the 1887 edition of the book, the combination becomes the famous gin fizz (although Thomas curiously spells it “Fiz”).
2 ounces (60 ml) Old Tom gin (Hayman’s)
½ ounce (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
3 to 4 ounces (90 to 120 ml) soda water or mineral water
Lemon wheel, for garnish
Shake the gin, lemon juice, and powdered sugar with ice. Strain into a highball glass. Top with mineral water and garnish with a lemon wheel on the side of the glass.