Homemade Pimms

5 from 1 vote

Nothing brings in summer like a cool refreshing glass of Pimms. This homemade version is delicious and great fun to have a bash at.

Prep Time10

Infusing Time2

Total Time2 10

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: British

Servings: servings

Calories: 168kcal

Author: Georgina Hartley

Ingredients

For the Summer Cup Syrup:

250 ml water
250 ml white sugar
½ cucumber
tiny handful lemon verbena*
2 fresh sprigs mint

For the Pimms:

300 ml Gin
200 ml Red Vermouth Please see notes if gluten-free
100 ml Orange Curacao Triple Sec
1 tbsp Aperol
200 ml summer cup syrup

For mixing:

Either lemonade, ginger ale, tonic water or iced tea

For serving:

Strawberries, mint leaves and cucumber
Slices of orange, apple, lemon and other fruits are optional

Instructions

To make the summer cup syrup, heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Add the other ingredients and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and set aside the saucepan to cool and the flavours to infuse for 1-2 hours. Strain then decant the syrup into a jar, you won’t need all of it for the recipe.
Mix 200ml of the syrup with the alcohol, stirring it all together well. Decant into a jar until you are ready to drink it.
Make up with 1 part summer cup to 3 parts mixer, plenty of ice and lots of mint, cucumber and chopped fruit.
The summer cup will keep happily in your drinks cabinet for the whole of the summer, not that mine lasted the week.

Notes

Gluten-Free Notes. This recipe was developed before my website became gluten-free. Most of the alcohols in this recipe are gluten-free. Gin, Triple Sec (or Orange Curaçao), and Aperol are generally safe, although if you are concerned please check the individual manufacture. Most red vermouth brands are not officially gluten-free and may contain trace gluten, so it’s best avoided if you're highly sensitive. While many with gluten intolerance tolerate it, it’s safest to contact the manufacturer or choose a certified gluten-free vermouth.
These days I don't really have much lemon verbena hanging around my kitchen as I used to when I developed this recipe so now I just substitute for a couple of peels of lemon. I also amended the apple mint to regular fresh mint.
This recipe makes enough Homemade Pimms to serve 12 people.
A single serving is generally around 50ml of Pimm’s topped with 150ml mixer, plus fruit and mint.
Or if you want to serve the whole amount for a crowd then it's 1 part Homemade Pimms to 3 parts mixer.
This Homemade Pimms is on the sweeter side so it's best served with sparkling water, tonic water or iced tea.
If you want more of a traditional recipe to mix with lemonade then you can reduce or opt out of the summer cup syrup.
This recipe make more than double the summer cup syrup that you need. I really recommend storing that summer cup syrup to use at the bottom of a glass of prosecco for a delicious aromatic cocktail.
If you are also in a rush then you can make it without the Summer Cup Syrup but then it's best mixed with a sweet mixer like lemonade. But don't forget the mint and fruit to stuff in the jug to get those aromatics back!
This Homemade Pimms recipe will keep for about a month in a cool dark place if stored in an airtight container, I use a 1 litre Weck jar or Kilner jar.

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