Southside

Eight to ten leaves for one drink, stems removed. Put them in the shaker with the syrup and give one gentle press before adding everything else, or just let the ice do the work while you shake. Mint bruised by the ice releases plenty without turning grassy.

Both versions exist and bar arguments about it go nowhere. Lime keeps it closer to a Mojito and sharper against the mint. Lemon rounds it out and lets the gin's botanicals show more. If you're pouring a heavily juniper-forward gin, lemon is the kinder choice.

Any stemmed glass holding about six ounces will do, a small wine glass included. What matters is the stem, since a drink served with no ice warms from your hand in minutes. Chill whatever you use in the freezer for ten minutes first. It buys more than the shape does.

Then you've made a Southside Fizz, which is a fine drink and a longer one. Build it in a tall glass over ice and add sixty milliliters of soda after straining. Pull the syrup back to fifteen milliliters, because bubbles make the sweetness read louder than it does in a coupe.

A classic Southside calls for 60 ml (2 oz) Gin, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lime juice, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Simple syrup, 8 mint leaves Fresh mint. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard Southside is roughly 23% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it spirit-forward — closer to a Martini than to a beer, so sip it slowly.

A Southside is shaken — the rule of thumb is to shake anything with citrus juice. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.