Sluttishly Gatsby: Gin Rickey

Behold the complete lack of era-appropriate styling

"...Tom came back, preceding four gin rickeys that clicked full of ice.
Gatsby took up his drink.
'They certainly look cool,' he said, with visible tension.
We drank in long, greedy swallows."

- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I think we all know now, don't we, that the secret to whipping the whole world into a frenzy about your upcoming movie is to say it's coming out at Christmas, and then delay it by five months. Five months, filled with sequins and drop waists, roaring and flapping.

Well, roar no more, chickadees - the time for Baz's Gatsby is upon us, and judging by the reviews, we might all need to get drunk on Fitzgerald's favourite cocktail, the Gin Rickey, before we see it.

This is a long, refreshing drink, and not one for those who like their cocktails tooth-achingly sweet. Some recipes call for the addition of sugar syrup, but NO. No, no, no. Jay and Daisy didn't sweeten theirs. A classic Gin Rickey contains only gin, lime juice, and soda water (or any fizzy water - not tonic), served over ice. It's traditional to add the discarded lime shell to the glass. Hardly picturesque, but hey. I don't mess with history (I so do).

Gin Rickey (serves 1)
You'll need:

• Juice of half a lime, shell retained
• Lots of ice cubes 
• 60ml gin 
• Soda water

Make it!

1. Squeeze the lime juice into a Collins glass filled with ice, then throw in the spent lime shell. Pour in the gin, top up with soda water and give it the briefest of stirs. 
2. Don your best flapper headband, listen to some Jay-Z, and jiggle your hands a bit. That's the Jazz Age, people, beaming straight into your living room.