A South Side or Southside is an alcoholic beverage made with
gin,
lime juice
A lime (from French ''lime'', from Arabic ''līma'', from Persian ''līmū'', "lemon") is a citrus fruit, which is typically round, green in color, in diameter, and contains acidic juice vesicles.
There are several species of citrus trees ...
,
simple syrup
Inverted sugar syrup, also called invert syrup, invert sugar, simple syrup, sugar syrup, sugar water, bar syrup, syrup USP, or sucrose inversion, is a syrup mixture of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose, that is made by hydrolytic sacch ...
and
mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
. A variant, the Southside Fizz, adds soda water.
History
Its origins are subject to speculation. It has been proposed that it gets its name from either the
South Side district of the city of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, Illinois, or from the
Southside Sportsmen's Club
South Side Sportsmen's Club was a recreational club that catered to the wealthy businessmen of Long Island during the gold coast era from the 1870s through the 1960s. Its main clubhouse and other facilities were added to the National Register o ...
on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
.
The drink may have been the preferred beverage of
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
, whose gang dominated Chicago's South Side.
The gin imported by Capone's rivals on the North Side of Chicago was smooth, and usually consumed with ginger ale.
However, the gin consumed by Al Capone's gang had a rougher finish, and required more sweeteners to make it palatable.
Thus the South Side was born.
21 Club recipe
The following list of ingredients for a south side is used by the famed
21 Club
The 21 Club, often simply 21, was a traditional American cuisine restaurant and former prohibition-era speakeasy, located at 21 West 52nd Street in New York City. Prior to its closure in 2020, the club had been active for 90 years, and it had h ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
*
Tanqueray gin
* mint simple syrup
* 4–5 fresh mint leaves
* juice of one lemon
* splash of soda
South Side Fizz
![clover club southside fizz (3285775440)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Clover_club_southside_fizz_%283285775440%29.jpg)
A South Side Fizz adds soda water:
* gin
* lime juice
* simple syrup
* 1 sprig mint (and one for garnish)
*
club soda
Club soda is a manufactured form of carbonated water, commonly used as a drink mixer. Sodium bicarbonate, potassium sulfate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium citrate, or sodium citrate is artificially added to replicate constituents commonly fo ...
In a shaker, muddle the mint, lime juice and simple syrup. Add the gin and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice. Stir until frost appears on the outside of the glass. Fill with club soda and garnish with another mint sprig.
Related drinks
The
Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically serv ...
does not include mint, and is
carbonated
Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids.
In inorganic ch ...
.
References
{{IBACocktails
Cocktails with gin
Cocktails with limeade
Cocktails with eggs
Cocktails with lemon juice