My Favorite Brunch: Gordon's Cup
This one is really going to be a twofer, since we’ll have to discuss the Gordon’s Cup and its sister cocktail, Gordon’s Breakfast (like if a Bloody Mary was meant to taste good).
The Gordon’s Cup was made by Sasha Petraske in 2005 for his extremely influential bar, Milk + Honey. At Milk + Honey, Sasha and his team of bartenders were tremendously influential in the craft cocktail renaissance that has led us to this point. Many of the M+H bartenders went on to start other highly influential bars all around the world, and Sasha’s legacy continues to resonate through the cocktail world long after his passing in 2015. Consider picking up his extremely good book, Regarding Cocktails.
I'm going to talk for a while now. As always, you can click on this link right here to skip to the recipe. If not, read on!
Behold, only like my third attempt at a usable photo.
What Is It?
The Gordon’s Cup is a play on the Pimm’s Cup, but gin focused, without the soda, and paring the fruit down to just cucumber and lime.
Er… wait, no hold on, that’s not right.
A Gordon’s Cup is a gin-based caipirinha with the addition of cucumber. Yeah, that’s closer.
The name may have a ring not unlike the Pimm’s Cup, but the root here is much closer to the classic Brazilian cachaça drink, the caipirinha. A caipirinha essentially muddles Brazil’s signature sugar cane spirit (rum, kinda) with lime and sugar, then piles on the ice and serves it cold. Here we’re using syrup instead of granulated sugar, gin instead of cachaça, and adding cucumbers. That’s it.
But Wait, There’s More!
Sam Ross, one of Sasha Petraske’s closest associates and a bartender at M+H who created many of their most popular cocktails (the Paper Plane, the Penicllin…) decided he wanted to make the Gordon’s Cup into more of a brunch drink. Taking influence from the Bloody Mary, Sam added some hot sauce and worcestershire sauce to the original, making it (in my opinion) a much better brunch drink than the tomato soup that is commonly sold as a Bloody Mary.
If you notice a lighting change, it’s because I made the Gordon’s Breakfast late in the day. Oddly.
Sam used Cholula hot sauce in his; I didn’t have Cholula, so I used about half as much Tabasco. Use Cholula, if you have it (or Valentina is a good substitute, I’ve heard). Right, enough chuff. Let’s get to the recipe!
The Good Part (The Recipe)
3 cucumber wheels
1/2 lime, cut into wedges
3/4 oz simple syrup
2 oz gin
More cucumber wheels and lime wedges, to garnish
Salt and pepper, to garnish
Add cucumber, lime, and syrup to a shaker tin. Muddle gently to bruise cucumber and release lime juice.
Add gin and ice to shaker, then shake until chilled and well-combined, about 10 seconds.
Double-strain drink into a glass full of cracked ice or ice cubes. Garnish with fresh cucumber wheels and lime wedges, and sprinkle salt and pepper on top.
To Make it Into a Gordon’s Breakfast:
Additional:
6 dashes Cholula hot sauce (or similar)
4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Add sauces to tin before shaking. Prepare and garnish the same way.
Okay, full disclosure, I’ve been talking up the Gordon’s Breakfast, but the truth is that I just don’t like it very much. It’s definitely a better drink than the BM (yes, I know what else that means), but I’ve never really loved spicy, savory drinks like this. For brunch, I prefer the refreshing, aromatic, original Gordon’s Cup.
What would you prefer? What do you like with your brunch? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe to our email lists to get updates every week!
