Lime Rickey Recipe: How to Make the Cocktail or Mocktail

A Lime Rickey is a mixture of fresh lime juice and soda water, with the optional additions of alcohol and sugar. The Lime Rickey cocktail variation, named after lobbyist Joe Rickey, gained popularity in Washington, DC, during Prohibition. During that time, bartenders masked the varying and often unsavory flavor of homemade liquors, like bathtub gin, with juices and syrups, ushering in the era of the cocktail.

In India, a similar drink simply called lime soda often includes the addition of salt and is a go-to beverage for staving off the heat while staying hydrated.

There are many ways to add your own touch to this refreshing drink. Here are some options for personalizing your Lime Rickey:

1. 1. Aperitifs: For a low-ABV cocktail, use an aperitif like vermouth instead of gin to add less alcohol while maintaining complexity in flavor. Learn more about dry vermouth.
2. 2. Cherry-lime: Use the cherry syrup from a jar of maraschino cherries instead of simple syrup to sweeten your Rickey and add a ruby hue to the drink. Garnish with a cherry and a lime wedge to make a Cherry-Lime Rickey.
3. 3. Ginger: Lime and ginger are a classic flavor combination. Sweeten your Rickey with ginger syrup, or top it off with ginger ale instead of soda.
4. 4. Gin Rickey: The most common way to serve an alcoholic Lime Rickey is on the rocks with gin. Learn more about the different types of gin.
5. 5. Lemon-lime soda: For a sweeter variation that’s even more citrus-forward, top your Rickey with a lemon-lime soda instead of soda water and skip the simple syrup.
6. 6. Mojito: Muddle a few fresh sprigs of mint and sugar along with the limes, and swap in clear rum for the gin to make a classic Cuban cocktail. Learn how to make a Mojito.
7. 7. Raspberry: Muddle a few raspberries in with the lime, or stir in a spoonful of raspberry syrup before adding soda for a berry-forward Raspberry Lime Rickey.
8. 8. Ranch Water: This Rickey-adjacent cocktail features lime juice, soda water, and tequila. Add an orange liqueur to turn it into a sparkling Margarita, perfect for a hot summer day.
9. 9. Salt: To make this salty-sweet drink, like the lime soda found in India, add a pinch or two of salt to the lime juice. Salt enhances the flavor of most cocktails and makes for an impressive fizzy rise when you add soda water.
10. 10. Tonic water: Tonic water gets its unique flavor from a compound called quinine. Famously used as a malaria treatment, quinine later became a popular mixer for one of the world’s most ubiquitous cocktails: the Gin and Tonic. (Try this easy Gin and Tonic recipe.) Swap the soda water with tonic water for a boldly flavored drink, and learn more about the difference between tonic water vs. club soda.

Whether you choose club soda, seltzer, or tonic water, make sure the carbonated water is nice and bubbly—fizz is the essence of a Rickey. Here’s how to make a lime-forward and refreshing Rickey at home:

1. 1. Use fresh limes. Bottled lime juice can have added sweeteners or preservatives, which can change the drink’s flavor. Squeeze the lime juice right before using it for the purest lime flavor. Here’s how to juice a lime.
2. 2. Muddle the citrus. Muddling skin-on limes in the glass releases the essential oils within the lime’s outer peel, giving it a strong lime flavor that takes the cocktail to a new level.
3. 3. Sweeten to taste. Like any hand-mixed cocktail recipe, the sweetness level is up to your discretion and palate preferences. Flavored syrups can add a unique flavor to your drink, or you can keep it simple with muddled sugar, simple syrup, or no sweetener at all.
4. 4. Serve in a tall glass. Traditionally served on the rocks in a highball glass, Rickeys are thirst-quenchers. Save your shorter cocktail glasses for sipping bourbon or a digestif.