The beauty of gin is the way it evokes that husky, gravel voice, a sound at once vulnerable and take-charge. All traces of shy, retiring, wilting violet vanish in the citrus bite of a drink that’s been around since women wore pillbox hats, pedal-pushers, and patent-leather pumps. Don’t mess with the formula- it’s had more than 50 years of road-testing and is geared to provoke the trouble you’re looking for.

-    6 ice cubes
-    4 ounces gin
-    2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
-    2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
-    2 to 4 dashes grenadine

1.    Fill a cocktail shaker with the ice and pour in the remaining ingredients. Stir very gently with a long-handled bar spoon to chill, about 20 revolutions.
2.    Strain the mixture, and divide between two short old-fashioned glasses.

Serves 2

From High Balls and High Heels by Karen Brooks, Gideon Bosker and Reed Darmon. Photographs by Mittie Hellmich. Copyright © 2001. Used with permission of Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, www.chroniclebooks.com. Photo © istock/Bradley Mason.