I’ve said it before (no I haven’t) and I’ll say it again (probably): Gin belongs with vegetables. Here’s a Green Bell Pepper Gimlet!
What Are You Even Doing?
I’m glad you asked! After I first tried a gimlet, it inspired in me the desire to experiment (it’s such a simple cocktail that it’s begging to be changed, and gosh darn it I can change her, Mom!). And experiment I did. I went down the produce aisle, and for some reason the color green was speaking to me. Hey, 1/3 of the cocktail is how it looks, and a nice green drank is just fun to look at. So I grabbed some celery, some cucumber, and some green pepper and headed back home.
What Does a Green Pepper Gimlet Taste Like?
It tastes like a gimlet with green pepper in it, of course! But that’s a boiled down approximation. It really gives you the lime and gin that any gimlet is known for. The green pepper, however, kind of sneaks up on you as the FEELING of green pepper. Or the GHOST of green pepper. Or like any flavored seltzer: Like a green pepper farted in your cocktail. But in a good way.
How To Make This Unholy, Yet Delightfully Refreshing Cocktail
The key here is the pepper. Once you cut it up and add it to the shaker, you need to muddle the crap out of it. You could probably try with one of those flat bottom muddlers, but honestly your best bet is one of the muddlers with the points all over the bottom that can really grip. You want to express all the bell pepper flavor that you can otherwise it’ll be so subtle you might as well not even do it.
Green Pepper Gimlet Recipe
- 2oz London dry gin (I use Bombay Sapphire)
- .75oz lime juice
- .75oz simple syrup
- 1/2 a medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
Combine the pepper and lime juice into a shaker, and muddle until the pepper is completely FUBAR and your wrist is tired. Add the gin and syrup, fill 3/4 with ice, and shake until the ice doesn’t sound crisp against the side anymore. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain into a coupe, and garnish with some leftover pepper so you can get a nice whiff of it with each sip!