Yes, the Brit is at it again. It's Summer, the temperature is up to 30 C (86F) and in England that means Pimms.

However, Pimms is an art-form in itself. The basic No.1 cup is obviously the most important ingredient but after that the World is your cray-fish.

My normal recipe for a jug goes:

Half fill 1.5L jug with ice;
250ml of Pimms No 1 cup;
One/Two Oranges quartered then halved horizontally;
Half a lime sliced thinly;
Fill with (diet) lemonade.

Throw in any other bits of fruit and vegetables that you have lying around (cucumber, celery, passion fruit.)

Serve in tall glasses with a stirrer and optional straw. Fruit must be in every glass.

Any other Summer faves? Like Raspberry Margarita?

Really good iced tea with extra lemon.

Jamie Oliver made some for his mother in law on the last Oliver's Twist that I saw. It looked quite good, kind of a British Sangria.

We brought a bottle of Pimms No.1 on a ski trip years ago - my first, and last, experience with this stuff. Now granted, we weren't skilled in the art of serving this stuff, but served straight it was awful! However, being young we managed to drink it anyway. We poured it in a coffee mug and played quaters with with it

My head hurts again just thinking about that, lo so many years later...

KillerBee,

I think the last time I had a Pimm's Cup was 35 years ago at the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco. Just wanted something besides their famous Irish Coffee that night.

IIRC I had a #3 and thought it was pretty good straight. Granted I was already pretty smashed so my memory might not be exact.


How many different Pimm's Cups are there? What are the basic differences of them? Is it a popular beverage there? I pretty much never see it here any more unless it is in some pub-wannabe place.

The only one you ever see is No 1 cup. It's sold everywhere and in the Summer most places will make you a jug. All will do a single glass for you but it's better from a jug.

DON'T DRINK IT NEAT!

KillerB, what about the mint leaf? Or is that for ponces? In any case, I always drink Pimms with lemonade (the fizzy kind, not the american flat lemony kind) whenever I am at the Royal Enclosure.

I enjoy Pims with lemon squash and oragne slices with mint. Maybe I'm apounce.

Thinking about it I probably had the Pimm's #3 with Schweep's Bitter Lemon. I think it had just been introduced.

Pimm's = a fruity, spicey, dark-looking gin?

My vague recollection is that it's a sneaky kick in the pants. Fools you into thinking it won't hurt you.

The mint-leaf is for 'The Season' events - Ascot, Wimbledon, etc. I'm never sure what the cats have been doing to my mint, so I leave it.

"Thinking about it I probably had the Pimm's #3 with Schweep's Bitter Lemon. I think it had just been introduced"

That was a very long time ago!

We normally have it with clear, sparkling lemonade.

Lilac - yes, that's about it. No1 is the gin based cup. The other cups are based on other spirits but No 1 is the classic and, apparently, only No 6 (vodka) is still being made and only in small quantities.

The idea with Pimms is to get everybody completely smashed without them realising it. So you make it light and fruity and drink it by the gallon. That's why the season events are so much fun - everybody's wasted on Pimms

KillerB, thanks for the clarification. Whenever I have my morning suit on, I'll make sure my P&L has mint in it.

PS: Just to be clear, I have never actually been to the Royal Enclosure or even Ascot for that matter. The closest I have gotten to any "season" event is a GBP 5 standing-only ticket at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Don't even remember what it was.

KillerB -- Bring back your kitty-cat avatars!

Don't you like the bee then?

Meet Sebby.

Hello Sebby-cat. KillerB, I much prefer your kitty-cat avatars. Now if only I could figure out how to get mine on there...

KillerB,

I liked the bee better (just on principle).

There's a bit of fun that you need to go through to change your avatar.

1 Browse for your picture and choose cat;
2 Cut the location from the URL that's already there;
3 Update;
4 Your Klingon may still be there;
5 Open another window and paste your URL into the address and see if new picture or Klingon is there;
6 Go back to your details page;
7 If Klingon still there goto 1 and repeat;
8 Else just update.
9 Cat should now be there.

I have no idea why I have to go through this rigmarole each time but I do.

Quote:

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"Thinking about it I probably had the Pimm's #3 with Schweep's Bitter Lemon. I think it had just been introduced"

That was a very long time ago!

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Not that long ago. Probably 1968 or somewhere around there.