Southside

Southside is a classic cocktail made with gin, fresh mint leaves, lime juice, and simple syrup. It is a refreshing and minty drink, perfect for summer sipping.

Southside recipe

• 60 ml London Dry gin
• 30 ml lemon juice
• 15 ml simple syrup
• 5-6 mint leaves
• few drops of egg white (Optional)

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, shake well with ice, double-strain into chilled cocktail glass

How to shake a Southside properly

1. Chill a cocktail glass first so the drink stays crisp and cold once poured. A Southside is best served very cold and without ice in the glass.
2. Add the gin, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and mint leaves to a shaker. If using egg white, add just a few drops here as well for a softer texture and a light foam.
3. Gently press the mint once or twice before shaking, just enough to release its oils. Avoid over-muddling, which can make the drink taste grassy or bitter.
4. Fill the shaker well with ice and shake hard until the tin feels thoroughly frosted. If you included egg white, shake especially vigorously to build texture.
5. Double-strain into the chilled cocktail glass through both a Hawthorne strainer and a fine mesh strainer. This keeps out mint fragments and gives the drink a clean surface.
6. Serve immediately. A small mint leaf can work as garnish, but keep it restrained so the drink stays elegant rather than overly aromatic.

What the Southside tastes like

The Southside sits in the same refreshing family as a gin sour, but mint gives it a cooler, cleaner finish. London Dry gin brings juniper and citrus peel, lemon adds sharp brightness, and the syrup rounds it out. When egg white is included, the texture becomes silkier and slightly more plush without changing the flavor much.

Best moments to serve it

This is an excellent aperitif cocktail: light, brisk, and polished. It works especially well in warm weather, at garden parties, or anywhere a Martini might feel too severe. Because it is served straight up, dilution matters, so shake thoroughly but serve at once.

Southside background and bar lore

The exact origin is a bit uncertain. The most repeated story links the drink either to Chicago’s South Side during the Prohibition era or to East Coast private clubs such as New York’s 21 Club. The most credible takeaway is that it emerged as an early-20th-century gin-and-mint sour with strong pre-Prohibition or Prohibition-era roots.

A zero-proof Southside-style version

For a non-alcoholic take, use a juniper-forward alcohol-free spirit in place of gin. Shake it with lemon, simple syrup, and mint exactly the same way, then double-strain into a chilled glass. You keep the bright herbal snap and refreshing structure, just without the alcohol.