South Side Cocktail
The South Side is a gin sour with mint, and it takes about two minutes to make. Its name is tied to either Chicago's South Side or a Long Island sportsmen's club, and one story says Al Capone's crowd drank it. The method matters here: the mint is rolled in the shaker rather than muddled, so you get the aroma without grassy bitterness, and double straining keeps the coupe clear.
Instructions
Pour the gin, lime juice and simple syrup into a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard until the outside is very cold.
Open the shaker and add the mint, keeping back one leaf about the size of your thumb for garnish.
Close the shaker and roll it end to end a few times. This releases the oil from the mint without bruising the leaves, which would make the drink taste bitter.
Set a hawthorn strainer on the shaker and hold a fine mesh strainer over a chilled coupe. Pour the drink through both so no ice chips or torn mint end up in the glass.
Float the reserved mint leaf on top and serve right away.
Make it personal.
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