🌿 Southside

Gin, fresh lime, simple syrup, and mint — the Prohibition speakeasy classic from Chicago's South Side.

4 min
Serves 1
Shaken
Coupe
Ingredients
  • 2 oz London Dry Gin
  • ¾ oz Fresh lime juice
  • ¾ oz Simple syrup
  • 8–10 Fresh mint leaves
  • Mint sprig to garnish
Method
  1. 1
    Combine in shakerAdd gin, lime juice, simple syrup, and mint leaves to a cocktail shaker.
  2. 2
    Add ice and shake hardFill with ice and shake very hard for 15 seconds. The shaking bruises the mint leaves appropriately — they release flavour without becoming bitter.
  3. 3
    Double strainDouble-strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a chilled coupe. This catches all the mint pieces.
  4. 4
    GarnishFloat a mint sprig on the surface.

Chicago's South Side Speakeasies

The Southside is attributed to the Southside Sportsmen's Club in Long Island, though the more colourful origin story places it in Chicago's South Side speakeasies during Prohibition. The rough bootleg gin of the era required strong flavours to mask it — mint and lime did the job effectively.

The Southside occupies an interesting position between a Mojito (rum, lime, mint, soda) and a Gimlet (gin, lime, syrup). It has the mint of the Mojito but the gin and structure of the Gimlet. The 21 Club in New York served it as a signature drink for decades, which may have contributed more to its lasting reputation than any speakeasy story.

Variations

🍹 Southside Fizz

Strain into a highball glass over ice and top with cold club soda. The Mojito-style version — longer, more refreshing.

🌸 Elderflower Southside

Replace simple syrup with elderflower liqueur (St-Germain). The floral notes work beautifully with both gin and mint.

🥒 Cucumber Southside

Add 3 thin cucumber slices to the shaker with the mint. The cucumber's freshness adds another layer of herbal complexity.

Related
🍸 Cocktails A–Z Browse all 72 classic recipes 🌿 Gin Guide Gin, lime, mint — a Gatsby-era classic 🌿 Mojito The rum-mint cousin 🍸 Gimlet The gin-lime base without the mint