For those who closely follow the actions of the British royal family, the biggest news surrounding Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle is most notably their decision to leave the U.K. and vacate their royal titles. But their departure doesn’t mean the couple is any less beloved by the British public, as shown by the recent uptake of Meghan’s Markle’s popular Pimm’s Cup Recipe from an old blog post.
Prior to her high-profile royal marriage, Markle made a name for herself with impressive acting roles, including her position in the USA Network TV show “Suits.” The multi-talented Markle also ran a luxury lifestyle blog, called “The Tig,” where she originally posted the Pimm’s Cup recipe that has recently received a lot of online attention.
Typically, a Pimm’s Cup is a simple two-ingredient cocktail, combining ginger ale (or lemonade) and Pimm’s, a gin liqueur. In Britain, the drink usually arrives with an elaborate garnish of fresh summer fruits.
Markle’s version, called the “Tig Cup” is much more elevated. The beverage calls for gin, soda water, tonic water, maraschino cherry liqueur, and a slew of farm fresh garnish additions. (She suggests fresh mint, cucumber ribbons, grapefruit rind, radish shavings, celery, and lime for garnish but encourages flexibility in garnish choices.)
As Markle says, in her old blog post, “Using cues from the season, with fresh and vibrant farmers’ market ingredients, this drink will whet your whistle and keep you cool during those long summer days turned nights.”
To execute this herbaceous concoction, stack the aforementioned garnish list in the bottom of a cocktail glass, then fill the glass with ice. Combine a few ounces of gin and a splash of the cherry liqueur in a shaker. In the prepared cocktail glass, pour in a few ounces of tonic and soda water in a 2:3 ratio. (Markle recommends adjusting this ratio to personal taste). Finally, add the shaken gin/cherry liqueur into the glass, adding grapefruit garnish to finish. The recipe makes one large drink or can be split into two.
Though The Tig itself is no longer active (read the blog’s farewell letter here), Markle’s recipe is very much the opposite, alive and well, much to the delight of a thirsty quarantined population.
Still looking to try other celebrity quarantine cocktails? Look no further than Padma Lakshmi’s Margarita, or Stanley Tucci’s Negroni.
