A gibson is a mixed drink made with gin and vermouth, garnished with a pickled onion. Try the recipe here.
The exact origin of the gibson is unclear, though the urban sophistication of the drink’s pickled onion twist has resulted in anyone with the last name Gibson receiving credit for it. According to one popular tale, Charles Dana Gibson is behind the beverage’s creation after he supposedly challenged Charley Connolly, the bartender of the 1888 Players Club in New York City, to improve upon the classic martini's recipe. Connolly seems to have simply substituted the signature olive for a pickled onion and named the drink after the patron.
Meanwhile, Leo Robitschek, the bar director at The NoMad Bar in New York City, attributes the drink to San Francisco’s businessman Walter Gibson, who supposedly slipped an onion into his drink, believing it would prevent colds.
If you are a fan of unsolved mysteries, try the recipe of the highly enigmatic gibson with the equally intriguing Monkey 47 gin. Adopting the recipe of Royal Air Force Wing Commander Montgommery Collins, the Black Forest distillers named their gin Monkey 47 in memory of Collin's monkey, while nodding to the number of botanicals used in the gin’s preparation.
2 parts Monkey 47, now available on drizly
1 part dry vermouth
2-3 cocktail onions
Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with cocktail onions.
Photography by: Courtesy of Monkey 47
