A propósito de Somerset, una de sus bebidas preferidas

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Gin Pahit

In the novels of W. Somerset Maugham, the rubber plantation owners of Malaysia of the 1890's seem to have nothing better do but call for the gin wallah to mix them one of these. The recipe was phenomenally hard to track down. It seems the internet wasn't big in 19th century Malaysia. Go figure. Eventually, I had to send an e-mail to Raffles hotel in Singapore (which features in the novels) and they sent me this recipe.

• 1.5 oz gin
• .5 oz bitters
  

Mix. This is the recipe as it was given to me. As such, it wasn't very tasty.
I suspect if it was shaken with ice and strained it would be better. I suspect it would be even better with a bit of fresh lemon juice and maybe a bit of sugar. It would almost certainly taste better if you were sitting on the verandah of the Raffles Hotel a 100 years ago.

<http://astrowww.phys.uvic.ca/grads/gwyn/pers/boatdrinks.html>