The Pimm's cup is a cocktail that is popular in England, in the United Kingdom. It is one of numerous fruit cups, a type of cocktail with gin, a soft drink, and fruit. Its primary spirit is Pimm's No. 1 Cup, a gin-based beverage flavored with fruits and spices invented around 1823 as a health drink.[1]

Pimm's cup
Cocktail
TypeHighball
Standard garnishCucumber slice or peel, mint sprig, orange slices, strawberries
Standard drinkware
Highball glass
Commonly used ingredients
  • 44 ml (1.5 US fl oz) gin
  • 130 ml (4.5 US fl oz) English-style lemonade
NotesMay include other garnishes and citrus juice

The Pimm's cup is the official cocktail of many summer events in England, including the Chelsea Flower Show, the Henley Royal Regatta and the Royal Ascot. For the last 50 years the drink has been associated with Wimbledon.[1]

Preparation edit

A summer long drink, the Pimm's cup is made with Pimm's No. 1 Cup, an English-style (clear and carbonated) lemonade, like Sprite or 7 Up,[2] lemon or lime juice, as well as various chopped garnishes, particularly apple, cucumber, orange, lemon, strawberry and mint or borage, though mint is more common.[3] Ginger ale or ginger beer is used as a common substitute for lemonade. All liquid ingredients are added to a highball glass with ice, followed by garnishes.[1]

Variations edit

Pimm's can also be mixed with Champagne (or other sparkling white wines), resulting in a drink known as a "Pimm's royal cup". Pimm's winter cup is generally mixed with warm apple juice. A "Glasgow Garden Party" is a drink made with Pimm's substituting lemonade with Irn Bru excluding any fruit garnish. A "Pimmlet" is a gimlet with Pimm's No.1 substituted for gin. A Pimm's mojito substitutes lemon and lime soda with muddled limes and soda water.[4]

History edit

The base liqueur of a Pimm's cup, Pimm's, was created sometime after 1823, when James Pimm opened an oyster bar and began serving spirit-based punches and cups. Pimm received his first liquor license in 1851, and leased or sold the bar to S. D. Morey in 1856; it changed hands several times afterward. At one point, Pimm, one of his employees, or one of his successors created the first Pimm's liqueur, designed to be mixed with lemonade, and which was trademarked and commercially released in 1912.[5]

The cocktail was introduced to the United States in the late 1940s, where it became popular in New England and New Orleans.[5]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "How to Make a Pimm's Cup, the Effervescent English Summertime Cocktail". 17 June 2022.
  2. ^ Bunny and Coco Get Smashed. Bunny Ultramod. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-4580-2466-4.
  3. ^ Ch, Victoria; ler (2019-03-11). "How to make the perfect jug of Pimm's". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  4. ^ "Pimm's mojito (an alternative Pimm's cocktail)". 2 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b Wondrich, David; Rothbaum, Noah, eds. (2021). The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails. Oxford University Press. p. 539. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199311132.001.0001. ISBN 9780199311132. OCLC 1260690923.

External links edit