Mickey Slim

Mickey Slim

Type	Cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume	Gin
Commonly used ingredients	One part gin A pinch of DDT
Preparation	Stir the DDT into the gin and serve
Notes	DDT is not very soluble in water so only a small quantity will dissolve. DDT has been linked to numerous health problems in humans.

The Mickey Slim was a drink that had short-lived popularity in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. According to The Dedalus Book of Absinthe by Phil Baker, it was made by combining gin with a pinch of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), an insecticide that would later be banned in most countries; consumers of this concoction claimed that its effects were similar to absinthe.

Due to lack of documentary evidence, it has been questioned whether this is a modern urban legend.

Time Magazine, August 1, 1971 reported that Pest Control Executive Robert Loibl and his wife Louise start breakfast with a 10-mg. capsule of DDT to demonstrate its safety. Elsewhere, it was reported that a University of Arizona professor did the same in the late 1980s. They would have mentioned any psychoactive effects. There have been no reports of this tasteless chemical having any psychoactive effects, thus it is unlikely that it has an effect "similar to absinthe", especially since the here assumed "effect of absinthe", that is, the effect of the chemical thujone, has in recent times been revealed to be close to non-existent. This cocktail is surely an urban legend.

This beverage should not be confused with the knockout drink known as the Mickey Finn.

See also

• List of cocktails