Gin Rickey

Modern American Drinks by George J. Kappeler (1895, p.97) — George J. Kappeler 1895

1. Prepare the same as Brandy Rickey, substituting gin for brandy.

Ice: Ice

New and Improved Bartenders' Manual by Harry Johnson (1900, p.243) — Harry Johnson 1900

1. Place the pieces of ice in a medium size fizz glass.
2. Squeeze in the lime juice.
3. Add the gin.
4. Fill up the glass with club soda, carbonic, or selters and serve with a spoon.

Ice: Ice pieces

Nose

Lime dominates the aroma, with gin remaining dry and supporting rather than sweetening the drink.

Palate

This is a clean highball-like extension of the rickey line, dry, brisk, and more stripped than the Collins or sour families.

Finish

The finish is sharp, clean, and strongly lime-led.

Summary

A dry lime-and-gin rickey preserving the spare refreshing branch that sits beside sweeter long drinks.

Rickeys matter because they map one route toward the modern dry long drink. Johnson's gin version keeps that dry citrus-soda logic distinct from both Collins and sour service.

The choice of gin type still matters, but the structural point is dryness. No sugar enters to soften the line.

The Cocktail Book a Sideboard Manual for Gentlemen (1901, p.51)

1. Juice a lime into a medium-sized tumbler and leave half the pressed lime in the glass.
2. Add the lump of ice and Tom gin, then fill with siphon.

Garnish: Pressed lime shell in glass.

Ice: One lump

This helps preserve the lean rickey grammar before later standard drink-book simplifications.

The spent lime left in the glass is an important service marker here.

Daly's Bartenders' Encyclopedia by Tim Daly (1903, p.63)

1. Squeeze the juice of one lime into a sour glass and add the small lump of ice and Plymouth gin.
2. Fill with syphon seltzer and serve with a small barspoon.

Ice: One small lump

Daly's Colonel Rickey attribution is a useful period witness for the drink's naming story.

Its identity lies in the stripped lime-spirit-seltzer build rather than sugar or garnish.

Applegreen's Bar Book by John Applegreen (1904, p.27) — Applegreen 1904 Tom Gin

1. Squeeze the lime into a medium thin glass and add one lump of cut ice.
2. Add the Tom gin, whether self-poured or measured by the bartender, fill with seltzer, and serve.

Ice: 1 lump

Nose

Lime and gin botanicals rise crisply.

Palate

This is useful because it preserves the customer-service dimension of the Rickey as much as the formula itself.

Finish

The finish is dry, citrusy, and sharply refreshing.

Summary

A customer-service Tom-gin Rickey from the core highball line.

Louis' Mixed Drinks with Hints for the Care & Serving of Wines by Louis Muckensturm (1906, p.105)

1. Put the lime juice and gin with a lump of ice and one-half of the lime into a high-ball glass, and when ready to serve, add soda and serve.

Ice: Ice

The Reminder by Jacob A. Didier (1909, p.89) — Didier 1909

1. Use a medium size, thin glass.
2. Add the ice, lime juice, and lime rind.
3. Hand the customer the glass and bottle of gin to help himself, pour the gin over the ice, fill with syphon seltzer or soda, and serve.

Garnish: Lime rind

Ice: 1 square piece

The service note matters as much as the formula here. Didier preserves the Rickey as a customer-finished dry long drink, not just a bartender-composed recipe.

The self-pour logic is part of the drink's identity in this source, and should not be flattened away in later summaries.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910, p.55)

1. Build the ice, lime juice, squeezed lime shell, and dry gin in a glass.
2. Fill with fizz water, stir with a spoon, and serve.

Ice: Ice

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.34)

1. Put the lemon or lime juice and a nicely cut piece of ice into a rickey glass.
2. Set the glass on the bar beside the bottle and allow the customer to help himself.
3. Fill up with seltzer or other mineral water, place a spoon in the glass, and serve.

Ice: Cut ice

Customer-finished service is central to the identity.

Bartenders' Guide: How to Mix Drinks by Wehman Bros. (1912, p.59)

1. Add the ice, lime juice, and gin to the glass, fill with Vichy or seltzer, and serve.

Ice: Ice

The Up-to-Date Bartender's Guide by Harry Montague (1913, p.36)

1. Put the ice and lemon or lime juice in a rickey glass.
2. Let the customer help himself to the gin.
3. Fill up with suitable carbonated water and serve.

Ice: Ice

Source explicitly preserves customer-finished spirit service.

Cocktail-Ology by Count Benvenito Martini (1916) — Cocktail-Ology, gin drinks section

1. Build with gin, citrus juice, and ice, then fill with carbonated water.

Ice: Lump ice

Julian's Recipes by Julian Anderson (1919, p.15)

1. Squeeze the lime into a hi-ball glass and drop the rind in also, then add the ice and Old Tom gin.
2. Fill up with cold seltzer water and serve with a spoon in the glass.

Garnish: Half lime rind

Ice: Ice

Down the Hatch by "Paul" (1920, p.14) — Down the Hatch 1920

1. Fill the glass with seltzer.
2. Must be very cold.

Ice: 1 lump of ice

This matters because it preserves the classic dry lime-and-seltzer rickey in a concise 1920 form.

The source's insistence that it be very cold is the key service note here.

About Town Cocktail Book by Joe Fitchett (1925, p.25) — About Town 1925

1. Leave half of the pressed lime in the glass with the juice and ice.
2. Add gin, fill up with syphon, and serve.

Garnish: Pressed lime shell

Ice: 1 lump ice

This matters because it preserves the plain built-in-glass rickey style in a social 1925 source.

L'Art du Shaker by Dominique Migliorero (1925, p.28)

1. Prepare like the Gin Fizz but omit the sugar.

Cheerio! A Book of Punches and Cocktails by Charles (1928, p.23)

1. Place the gin in a tumbler with the juice of half a lime, leaving the lime in the glass with cracked ice.
2. Add soda water and serve.

Garnish: Spent lime half

Ice: Cracked ice

Cocktails by Pedro Chicote (1928, p.363) — Chicote 1928

1. Build in the glass, stir, top with seltzer, and serve with straws.

Ice: 2 or 3 pieces of ice

This matters because it gives us a late Chicote control point for the Gin Rickey line just before later simplification.

The same-glass seltzer finish remains the family marker even with sugar included.

The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book by Albert Stevens Crockett (1935, p.97)

1. Build and fill from siphon.

Ice: Ice

Peychaud's New Orleans Cocktails by John Held Jr. (1935, p.16)

1. Squeeze the lime into the glass, add the cut rind, gin, and ice, fill with carbonated water, and serve.

Ice: Ice

The Artistry of Mixing Drinks by Frank Meier (1936, p.85)

1. Build over ice in a small tumbler, fill with soda water, stir slightly, and serve.

Ice: Ice

Café Royal Cocktail Book by W. J. Tarling (1937, p.234)

1. Squeeze lime into a medium size glass, add a piece of ice, leave the rest of the lime in the glass, add gin, and fill with syphon soda water.

Ice: Ice