Some people come home and crave a glass of wine or a cocktail nightly, but I just never really crave alcohol, either the taste or the feeling. It’s rare that I think about drinking unless its in conjunction with social situations, which is about the perfect relationship to alcohol for me. On a few stretches it’s a daily thing, like my recent vacation, and other times it just exists as a reason to gather with friends. Sometimes it’s an exercise in creativity, like today’s Pimms cup pitcher.
But no matter what, the alcohol has to taste delicious and be worth drinking and not just a way to lose track of my feelings. You won’t catch me throwing back a glass of whiskey neat, or forcing down an overly hoppy IPA just to look cool. If it doesn’t spark joy for me, it has to go. That’s why I prefer fun cocktails with an artist’s palette of flavors to excite my taste buds and keep every drop enjoyable. Otherwise, why bother?
Pimms cups are basically fruit salad with a thin, boozy dressing. No wait, that analogy is awful. Pimms cups are a fruit salad with a drink inside. There, that’s better. I looked at so many Pimms cup recipes to see what to put in it and there are dozens of combinations. It seems to amount to three major components:
A carbonated mixer
The three most popular mixers are lemon-lime soda, carbonated lemonade, or ginger ale. Each choice will result in a different Pimms cup, so you can experiment to see what you like best!
Pimms No. 1
Use one part Pimms to two parts of your carbonated mixer. If you use one 12 oz. can, use 6 ounces of Pimms.
Fruit + mint
Two uniting factors in all of the Pimms cups I saw are cucumbers and citrus. Some have sliced strawberries, some have blackberries, peaches, even apple slices. So take your pick of extras, as long as cucumbers and a citrus make the cut. Garnish with mint to make it look festive and to add an additional cooling sensation.
I went with oranges particularly here as my citrus component because of this super cute quart and a half pitcher I recently picked up at The Little Green Door. If you've been to Spotted Salamander lately and saw the green door on the lower left hand side of the building, that's the door! They have a ton of cute vintage and antiques, plus some newer finds mixed in.
There are a ton of food props to be found from there in my future, I can feel it. Stop by and tell them I sentcha, or they do a brisk business selling directly from their Instagram page too. These modern times are glorious indeed.
Pimms Cup Pitcher
Ingredients
- Ice
- 2 12 oz cans of Sprite
- 1 lime sliced in thin rounds
- 1 tangerine or clementine sliced in thin rounds
- 2 inches cucumber sliced in thin rounds
- 1 ½ cups Pimms No. 1
- Mint springs for garnish
Instructions
- Fill the 1.5 quart pitcher a quarter of the way with ice.
- Put the sliced fruit in the container.
- Add the Sprite and Pimms. Muddle with a long-handled swizzle spoon.
- To serve, fill glasses with ice and pour the Pimms cup mixture til the glass is as full as you'd like. Garnish with additional tangerine, lime, and cucumber slices, and pull slices from the pitcher into the cup using the spoon, as desired.
No matter how you choose to Pimms, thanks to the spicy-citrusy scent of the No. 1, it's hard to mess it up, so go a little nuts and experiment with all the different ways to Pimms! And yes, you can definitely eat the fruit that's been soaking while you're drinking the liquid!
Looking for more cocktail inspiration? Check out my other cocktail recipes for more fresh, fruity, and chilled beverages for having a good time, deliciousness guaranteed.
