The South Side Cocktail Recipe

A South Side or Southside is an alcoholic beverage made with gin, lime juice, simple syrup and mint and a variation of the Southside Fizz that adds soda water

The South Side, Southside Fizz and Mojito are closely related mint-forward cocktails that diverge by spirit, technique and presentation. The South Side is a classic gin-based cocktail—shaken with mint, lemon or lime and sugar—served up or on the rocks with only a splash of soda for dilution, yielding a crisp, herbaceous profile.

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The Southside Fizz takes that template and lengthens it into a sparkling long drink by topping the shaken mixture with a full measure of soda water, producing a lighter, effervescent texture and brighter mouthfeel. The Mojito, by contrast, substitutes rum for gin and relies on muddling mint with sugar and lime before building in the glass with ice and soda, resulting in a more rustic, aromatic, and rum-forward character.

All three emphasize citrus, sweetness and mint, but differ in extraction method (shaking versus muddling), base spirit (gin versus rum) and carbonation level, making the South Side crisp and refined, the Southside Fizz spritzy and refreshing, and the Mojito tropical and textural.

The Southside Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 oz of Gin

• 1 oz of fresh lemon juice

• 5 Mint leaves

• 1 oz of simple syrup

• Use a mint sprig and lemon twist as a garnish

Assembly

Gently muddle the mint and lemon inside a cocktail shaker. Add ice and the remaining ingredients and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with a mint sprig.