Resorting to Murder with a 'Southside'

Holiday mysteries with what is essentially a gin mojito (or as I find no mention of mojitos in the Savoy Cocktail Book, perhaps it's more accurate to say that a mojito is a rum southside...) on a bank holiday weekend. It's a combination that could only be bettered if I didn't have to work tomorrow.

Golf courses, the English seaside, Paris, the Swiss mountains - there are all sorts of holiday possibilities here, though the number of unfortunate events (probably not covered by insurance either) that befall the holiday makers make me feel a little more sanguine about working rather than being away.

The Southside seems to have a number of incarnations, I went with the recipe I found on the Gin Foundry site - 8 leaves of mint, 4 parts gin, 2 parts fresh lime juice, 1 part sugar syrup - and it was good. Put everything in a shaker with plenty of ice, shake well, strain into a coctail glass and garnish with a mint leaf. Harry Craddock (Savoy Cocktail book) uses lemon, but I preferred the idea of lime, partly because I wanted the delicate green colouring.

Craddock also adds a dash of soda which according to the Gin Foundry would be a Southside fizz, add champagne and it would be a Royale. I like the sound of the soda version. I’m also told this is really good with basil instead of mint, which I might try later tonight (I love basil, so expectations are high). However you make it, it's a gloriously fresh and late summery sort of a drink.