Gibson (cocktail) Gibson (cocktail) The Gibson is a mixed drink made with gin and dry vermouth, and often garnished with a pickled onion. The oldest published recipe for the Gibson is found in the 1908 book, "The World's Drinks And How To Mix Them" by William Boothby. Other pre-prohibition recipes for the Gibson exist. They all omit bitters and none of them garnish with an onion. Some garnish with citrus twists. Others use no garniture at all. There is no known recipe for the Gibson garnishes with an onion before William Boothby's 1908 Gibson Recipe. Some sources persist in using other garnishment
Gibson (cocktail) the gin drinks. A similar story postulates a savvy investment banker named Gibson, who would take his clients out for the proverbial three-martini business lunches. He purportedly had the bartender serve him cold water, permitting him to remain sober while his clients became intoxicated; the cocktail onion garnish served to distinguish his beverage from those of his clients. Another version now considered more probable of the origin story given by Charles McCabe of the "San Francisco Chronicle" states it is from San Francisco. In 1968 McCabe interviewed Allan P. Gibson (1923–2005) and included the story in his Dec. 9, 1968