Squid Mixes: Joe Rickey

"Colonel" Joe Rickey was a Democratic lobbyist from Fulton, Missouri.  During the 1880s, he invented this simple drink combining whiskey with lime juice and soda then had bartenders make it for him.  Later, people started making the drink with gin, which ultimately became more popular.  But Joe was always faithful to whiskey.

I used bourbon for our drink, as recommended by David Wondrich in Imbibe!, from which I also got the above history.  We've had gin rickeys before and my wife says she prefers it that way.  I like the bourbon.  Gin doesn't stand up as well to mixers as whiskey does.  I like the fact that with whiskey, you always know it's there.  Even if the flavor fades, that warmth in the back of the throat remains.  I can see how the mellow bourbon is the right choice.  A sharper rye, for instance, might clash more with the lime.