The Clarito is a dry, spirit-forward Argentine cocktail made with gin and a very small measure of dry vermouth. Santiago “Pichín” Policastro’s original version included a sugar-coated rim, though that detail has largely disappeared over time. Today, the drink is more commonly finished with expressed lemon oils. One thing has not changed: no olives.

60 ml London Dry gin, or similar

3 ml French-style dry vermouth

Lemon peel

Granulated sugar, for the rim (optional)

Step One

Add four or five walnut-sized pieces of crushed ice to a mixing glass or similar vessel.

Step Two

Add the gin and dry vermouth and stir for 1 minute.

Step Three

If making the original version, rub a slice of lemon around the rim of the serving glass, then invert the glass onto a small plate of granulated sugar so that the sugar adheres to the moistened rim.

Step Four

Strain the cocktail into the glass. For the modern version, skip the sugar and express the oils from a strip of lemon peel over the drink before serving.

Note: The original recipe calls for a barrel-shaped glass. Over time, the sugar rim largely fell out of use, and today the Clarito is usually finished simply with lemon oils instead. It never, ever, comes with olives.