The Gibson

By Rosie Schaap

The Gibson
Sarah Anne Ward for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Rebecca Bartoshesky.
Rating
4(92)
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As with many classic cocktails, numerous origin stories have attached themselves to The Gibson like barnacles, and the truth is uncertain. One thing is clear, however: the pickled onion hasn’t always been part of the Gibson legend. The recipe in my 1933 edition of The Savoy Cocktail Book is essentially a formula for what many would call a 50/50 martini — half gin, half dry vermouth, with a faint spritz of lemon essence. Nonetheless, we now tend to regard The Gibson as a martini in which a cocktail onion is swapped in for the usual olive — and that’s the version of the story I’m sticking with in this recipe. Play with the proportions to your taste, but, as usual, I recommend that you don’t stint on the vermouth.

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Ingredients

  • 2½oz. London dry gin
  • ½oz. dry vermouth
  • 1cocktail onion
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)

124 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 4 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Pack a mixing glass with ice. Add gin and vermouth. Stir for 30 seconds, until it is very cold indeed. Strain into a cocktail glass in which a cocktail onion awaits.

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4 out of 5
92 user ratings
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Comments

Scandahoovian

"Gin Martini" is an oxymoron. A martini is a drink made with gin and dry vermouth. A "vodka martini" is not a martini - it is an incorrectly named cocktail made with vodka.

Ken Wightman

When my wife and I can't get to sleep, a martini or Gibson is often the answer. We go the shaken not stirred route as this chills our drinks to a delightfully cold temperature in moments. We experimented to find our preferred gin but still we agree with the author: don't stint on the vermouth. And with that, good-night.

Don Spates

I was a young (17) underwriter for Crum and Foster Insurance. Making outlandish decisions regarding how much coverage of a risk we would assume. Feted at lunch by the brokers who brought in the risk they would offer their own expertise on how to drink. My drink of choice had been gin on the rocks as I disliked vermouth. Vic explained how the ratio of gin in a Gibson would not offend my taste while also removing the stigma of being a cocktail hayseed.
Thanks Vic fifty years later

Charles

Just my opinion; but a Martini or a Gibson made without Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth isn't worth drinking. There are a handful of other, interesting, exotic vermouths from around the world, but they are strictly experiments. Nice places to visit, wouldn't want to live there. And I am 3-1 gin-to-vermouth. That's because, with Noilly Prat, I'm drinking good vermouth. Anything less than Noilly Prat, I can sort of understand why a consumer might not like so much vermouth.

Emchris4

The Gibson is my cocktail of choice (I prefer it with Bombay Sapphire) but out here in the Boston suburbs, few bars have the onions. It takes like nothing else and I wish others would join me in this delicious drink.

Eegulleye

Make the pickled onions from scratch (see NYT recipe) which are much more flavorful than the store bought type. Use 1-2 onions and don't add the brine to the cocktail (i.e., not "dirty") which overpowers the gin and vermouth. I made two versions of Gibsons: one with Gordon's and the other with Bombay Sapphire, both with Dolin vermouth. Preferred the Gordon's as the Bombay already has enough going on with the many botanicals in it.

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