R is for Rickey (Gin)
Daisy, Gatsby’s love object, orders her husband Tom to “make us a cold drink”. Returning, Tom carries “four gin Rickeys that clicked full of ice. Gatsby took up his drink. ‘They certainly look cool,’ he said with visible tension. We drank in long, greedy swallows”.
As you would this super-clean and sharp hit. A Rickey is gin, fresh lime juice, sugar and soda. It was so popular in the USA that, at one point, there was a national shortage of limes. It’s often said to have been one of Fitzgerald’s favourite tipples (he had many).
(The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)