027 – Southside

Sydney Covid ‘lock-down’ exploration of the ‘South-Side’ cocktail, and maybe a Sydney 2021 upgrade or two?

Lockdown has inspired me to explore this famous cocktail, a Prohibition favorite of Al Capone. Let’s take a look at the classic ‘Southside’ cocktail, and explore some of the cocktail’s history and construction. Then for a first on the Locktail website, let’s use ‘lock-down’ to actually make this often forgotten cocktail better. This must be contagious, because Jodie has also suggested a modification. Two for the price of one!

Make your own Locktail, the ‘Sydney 2021 Lock-down re-mixed Southside’. Here is my significantly adjusted recipe, and Jodie’s too:

METHOD – FOR THE MINT SYRUP – Add 100gm of Caster Sugar and 50ml of water to a pan over low heat. Heat until the sugar dissolves (don’t boil) and just a little more to about 70-degree Celsius (about the temperate of a hot coffee – uncomfortable to touch). Add 10-to-12 fresh mint leaves (washed first) and let them soak in the warm simple syrup for about an hour as the mix cools. Strain the solids and refrigerate. Should make around 60-to-80ml of ‘Mint Syrup’, suitable for 2-3 cocktails (make more if needed). Will last in the fridge for 2-3 weeks at least.

FOR JODIE’S OPTION – Same as above, but use Vietnamese Mint (not really mint) for a more savoury and surprising version of this syrup (and cocktail), one that is amazing with spicy and Asian food matches.

FOR THE COCKTAIL – Into a cocktail shaker, add 45ml Gin (suggest Never Never Distillery, Southern Strength 52% ABV), 30ml fresh Lime juice, 30ml Mint Syrup (preparation above), and 10-15ml egg white (about half an egg white per mix) and a handful of ice. Shake vigorously until cold (10-15 seconds). Strain and remove ice and then dry-shake (without ice) for a further 10-15 seconds to build foam and break the egg white protein bonds. Open and add 10-12 fresh mint leaves, role the shaker back and forward (do not shake) for around 20 seconds to infuse more mint flavour (without bruising the mint) and the double-strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Garnish with a single mint leaf (applying some of the mint syrup to the leaf will help it stick to the side of the glass).

HISTORICAL NOTES – The ‘Southside’ first appears in print as the ‘Southside Fizz’ in the last cocktail book printed in America before prohibition (1920–1933), Hugo Ensslin’s ‘Recipes For Mixed Drinks’, published in 1917, an author we discussed with Lock-tail #024 The Aviation. There is an earlier ‘Gordon’s South Side’ in 1913, but that is a frappé that is quite different to any later version of this cocktail.

Ensslin’s recipe calls for both lime juice and lemon juice. The ‘Southside’ was the ‘house drink’ of famous New York Bar the ’21 Club’ and may have evolved from an earlier drink, the ‘Major Bailey’ that was basically a ‘Mint Julep’ with Gin. The ’21 Club’ claims the cocktail was invented there, but I find it hard to accept any of their claims for origin, as they also claim invention of so many cocktails, even the Ramos Gin Fizz, which is ‘crazy-talk’ and cocktail blasphemy. Take a look at the Ramos Gin Fizz and you’ll see why their claim is blatantly dishonest.

Although not an origin story, as the cocktail was clearly around before Prohibition, is the reality that a significant amount of publicity came from the drink being a favorite of Chicago Prohibition Gangster, Al Capone. The story is that Al and his gang used the mint, sugar and effectively the ‘South-Side’ cocktail to ‘hide’ the rough flavour of their relatively poor grade Prohibition ‘sly-Gin’, apparently lesser quality than that found in Chicago’s North, who only needed to add Ginger Ale to improve their superior Gin.

THE OFFICIAL MIX – The ‘Southside’ is one of the International Bartender Association’s (IBA) ‘New Era Drinks’ list. You can find the IBA official recipe here, it calls for 60ml London Dry Gin, 30ml Fresh Lemon Juice, 15ml Simple Syrup, 5-to-6 Mint Leaves, and a few drops of egg white (optional). Shaken and double-strained into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnished with mint sprig.

How this happened is a good question. The ‘cocktail’ is not ‘new era’, even if the original faded a little during the ‘cocktail dark ages’, and most recipes are clear on lime not lemon juice, or a mix of the two. This is one of the IBA’s poorer recipe histories in my humble opinion, and therefore a good chance for a cocktail ‘reboot’.

TASTING NOTES – Most of the recipes around for the Southside are simplistic Gin, Lime (or Lemon), Sugar Syrup and some mint. It isn’t surprising that Mojito’s and other newer and more sophisticated mixes have seen the ‘Southside’ decline. Just because it started as a way of hiding poor-quality spirit, doesn’t mean this cocktail can’t and shouldn’t be improved.

In preparing this mix, I tried some original recipes and some newer alterations, and I wouldn’t have rated any of them higher than 3-stars (very good). So I have left the discovered other mixologist recipes and chased the creation of some my own, looking to make this a 4-star cocktail.

OTHER TASTERS – I’ve also started adding some other tasters. My Brother Lyle, my Partner Jodie, and my friend Maarten, you may see some of their ratings start to appear in the table above. Lyle feels that this mix is at least as good as the ‘Singapore Sling’ and better than the ‘White Lady’, he doesn’t believe in ‘half-stars’, and on his hard-marking but simple scale, rates this mix as 4-stars (above average), when most cocktails are just average – in his 50-year’s of experience.

LOCKTAIL CHANGES – With the concept of an elegant Mojito in mind, with no ice or mint in the glass to ‘get in the way’ when drinking, my plan was to make the ‘Southside’ compete with, and maybe even beat, a Mojito if you are looking for a refreshing mint and lime cocktail.

Unlike Al Capone, who was hiding his terrible Prohibition Sly-Gin, we are celebrating the Gin Renaissance. I have chosen Never Never Distilling Co’s – Southern Strength Gin, the recent winner of the ‘World’s Best Gin’. At 52% ABV. this is a potent drop, not quiet ‘Navy Strength’, but certainly in the wheel-house of strong Prohibition drops and a real ‘flavour carrier’. The Juniper forward flavour also has some heat that goes well with lime and mint. I also found the Sandy Gray a great Gin for this mix.

Make your own ‘Mint Sugar Syrup’ (recipe above), with two-to-one sugar to water, better than what you buy pre-made, and then infuse with mint. Much better than just hoping that the mint imparts some flavour to the cocktail, and done right (not too hot), this gets a really great sweet mint flavour ready to go.

Fresh and juicy limes of course, at least 30ml (one full small lime) per cocktail. The rest of the art is in the shaking. Shake everything with some egg white (pasteurized and about 10ml per mix) and then remove the ice. Shake again (dry shake) without the ice to build the foam. Then add some more fresh mint leaves, roll (not shake) this around in the shaker to get even more mint into the cocktail to better balance the lime. Then double-strain into a chilled glass. I think this may be the best ‘Southside’ you’ve ever had, and proof that in Sydney Covid Lockdown, you can make a better cocktail than in your standard bar.

My Partner Jodie selected another change inspired by Asian food, especially Vietnamese. Drop the ‘Mint’ and make the syrup, cocktail and garnish with ‘Vietnamese Mint’ instead. Not really a ‘mint’, but somewhere between Coriander, Chili and Mint, this amazing herb has some serious aroma and savoury or umami flavours. So we did, and it was amazing. Maybe the better cocktail really, and certainly 4.5-stars for Jodie’s rating. There doesn’t seem to be a Ho Chi Minh Cocktail, and maybe it would be something completely different, but combining the ‘South Side’ with ‘Vietnam’ has some cache that should be explored. Western tastes have changed and it makes sense that our cocktail flavour tastes should change too. Try this ‘Vietnamese Mint’ variant and let us know what you think.

YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’.

Let me know what you think.

Cocktails you’d like reinvented.

Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.

This is the seventh of the 1911-1920 bracket of ‘Locktail’ remixes. See the full list in the index.