Pimm's is Pimm's!

By posting this at 4 p.m. on the Fourth of July I am pretty much guaranteeing no one will read it. But blogging was on my to-do list for the weekend, and crossing it off will make me happy, so I'm choosing not to care. It's kind of freeing. I could say pretty much whatever I wanted with the assurance that this will get buried in your Google Reader.


I like France better than America in a lot of ways! I don't like apple pie or frosting! It makes me crazy to read blogs rife with grammatical and spelling errors so I just don't! I think John Boehner has beautiful blue eyes! I have an entire week's worth of newspapers waiting to be read! I am fascinated by the Kardashians!

Wow. It felt good to get that off my chest. Now, onto Pimm's.

Let me tell you a little story about Pimm's. It was summer 2003, and I had just graduated from high school. My aunt Wendy took my cousin and me on a graduation trip to England to visit my aunt and uncle, who had been living in Oxfordshire while my uncle did work for the Royal Air Force. We happened to be there during the RAF's summer ball, which meant we got put on ball gowns and hobnob with fancy British people while I got the sloshiest I'd ever been in my entire 18 years.

Anyway, we had a pre-party at the home of my uncle's co-worker Malcolm and his wife Babs. They served us a delicious and refreshing drink garnished with cucumbers and lemons. When we asked the name of the delicious concoction, Malcolm told us we were drinking Pimm's. What's in Pimm's, we asked?

"I haven't the foggiest!" he declared. "Babs, what's in Pimm's?"

"Bah, I don't know," she said. "Pimm's is Pimm's!

According to the Fount of Truth (Wikipedia), Pimm's No. 1 is what the English call a "fruit cup," and it's based on gin. Let's learn more, Fount of Truth!

It has a dark tea colour with a reddish tint, and tastes subtly of spice and citrus fruit. It is often taken with "English-style" (clear and carbonated) lemonade, as well as various chopped fresh ingredients, particularly apples, cucumber, oranges, lemons, strawberry, and borage, though nowadays most substitute mint. Ginger ale is a common substitute for lemonade. Pimm's can also be mixed with champagne (or a sparkling white wine), called a "Pimm's Royal Cup". Its base as bottled is 25% alcohol by volume.

Anna invited my star-crossed roommate and me to a shindig at her beef Tom's on Saturday, and we decided to contribute what happened to be the last bottle of Pimm's to be found at our local liquor store. We also got ginger ale and chopped up some cukes and lemons so it could be a kind of vegetable wop.

AND THEY LOVED IT!

Happy American Bastille Day, patriots.