Gin, anyone?

It's been a hot (and humid for Albuquerque) summer. That's when I like making gin and tonics. My secret for gin and tonics is a drop or two of bitters. Then a slice of lime (they're always cheap here, anywhere from 4-10/$1), lots of ice cubes, and, of course, gin (antimalarial medicine) and tonic. Mmm, mmm.

I don't care what brand of gin I use for gin and tonics. I figure its flavor is overwhelmed by the other ingredients. How 'bout you?

Now when I make a martini, that's different. I use nothing but Bombay Sapphire. And depending on how I feel, I'll use either olives or a lemon twist. How 'bout you?

As an aside, I watched the latest James Bond (incomprehensible) and watched in disbelief as he ordered a Gordon's martini and didn't care whether it was shaken or stirred. "Do I look like I care?" he said.

somebody once told me to use tonic water to make the ice cubes.
ever tried that?

I don't care what brand of gin I use for gin and tonics. I figure its flavor is overwhelmed by the other ingredients. How 'bout you?

Heathen.

If the gin you use doesn't make a difference, why should any of the other ingredients make a difference either?

If you use cheap-ass gin in one mix, and...say...Hendricks Gin in another, I do believe you will be able to taste the diff.

Otherwise, I'm with you on g&t.

We are fans of the Blue Sapphire here. Has to be London Dry, don't you think? (even though I live in the land of genever...the Dutch gin).
cheers, Bonnie

I like the combo of lemon, gin and mint. I made a sorbet with that combo and ...well, happy campers in more way than one (just kidding; not THAT much gin...But enough..)

Ever since a round-trip drinking catastrophe a few years back, I can't even abide the aroma of gin. Unintentional aversion therapy.

I don't care what brand of gin I use for gin and tonics. I figure its flavor is overwhelmed by the other ingredients. How 'bout you?

Heathen.

If the gin you use doesn't make a difference, why should any of the other ingredients make a difference either?

If you use cheap-ass gin in one mix, and...say...Hendricks Gin in another, I do believe you will be able to taste the diff.

Otherwise, I'm with you on g&t.

Be an interesting blind taste-test, particularly for tall g&t's with a shot of gin and a lot of tonic (I'll be glad to be on the taste panel). Now a martini, which is 99% gin, is a different animal, indeed.

I have to be in a particular mood for gin. That modd strikes, oh, once a decade or so.

Well, Larry, I am not a huge gin fan, but I do like an occasional gin and tonic. For that I usually use Tanquery.

Now for my martini...I like it shaken, very dirty, and *gasp* made with vodka (particularly Ketel One or Grey Goose). My Mother-in-law is always horrified as "a proper martini is always made from fine gin!" LOL!

I never thought to add some bitters to my gin and tonic, but I will try it next time, sounds like a good combination.

Good for you, but I don't quite consider it a martini either without gin (I think I'd like your mother-in-law). It doesn't make any difference whether vodka is shaken or stirred.

But the theory bethind "bruising the gin" is that more expensive gins have a number of botanicals that are a bit ethereal. Shaking evaporates the botanicals, which are part of the flavor of an expensive gin. Hence, the stirring admonition.

James Bond, being a rebel at heart, has martinis shaken just to be against the grain.

Tanqueray is the only thing that gets mixed with tonic here. We use Schweppes tonic water and either lemon or lime - they make for different drinks but both are nice. I like to add a drop or two of Angostura bitters to mine but my wife prefers hers without.

That's our summer drink. My wife requires one of these when arriving home from work or at 4 PM on weekends. Once it cools off, she'll switch to brandy manhattans.

Gin and tonic is a great summer drink! Generally, I make them with the same ingredients and in the same order every time. Fill the glass with ice. Pour gin over ice. Squeeze lime wedge over ice. Fill with tonic.

I used to be a bar-gin kinda guy. But then I thought I noticed that Tanqueray and tonic tasted better than Gordon's or Fleischmanns or some other cheap brand. And since I'm out of bar gin anyway, with plenty of better labels in stock, the g-ts have been upgraded around here.

The tonic must be Schweppes, no other brand is acceptable. And forget the diet version with this drink....it just doesn't cut it.

If the g&t is due to high temps outside, I often have it made in a pint glass with the usual amount of gin so that the extra tonic helps quench the thirst.

Have a golfing buddy who drinks short g-ts. Rocks glass, ice, gin with a splash of tonic and no fruit. He calls them "see-throughs."

Typically do not drink gin martinis but an occasional vodka mart works. Olives, not a twist. (My MIL goes for gin marts with olives and onions.) Normally like Absolut for my marts but Ketel One or Grey Goose are fine too.

When I tended bar at the country club, made a lot of martinis. First note, we rarely put vermouth in the drink; it was all gin or all vodka unless the customer specified otherwise. Second note, we never made them in a shaker even when vermouth was used unless they were served up. Always made them in the glass when served on the rocks.

A variation on the g-t theme......

Ever hear of or taste a Moscow Mule? The only place I have seen this drink is at the country club where I tended bar. First, you needed a special copper mug, not dishwasher safe, about 10 ounce capacity. Ice. Vodka. Lime wedge. And ginger BEER.

Ginger beer is not easy to locate. Its not exactly cheap either. I occasionally track some down to make this drink in the summer.

A variation on the g-t theme......

Ever hear of or taste a Moscow Mule? The only place I have seen this drink is at the country club where I tended bar. First, you needed a special copper mug, not dishwasher safe, about 10 ounce capacity. Ice. Vodka. Lime wedge. And ginger BEER.

Ginger beer is not easy to locate. Its not exactly cheap either. I occasionally track some down to make this drink in the summer.

Whoa. Old guys drink. That goes back to, what, late Sixties, early Seventies? It's really tasty if you can find real English ginger beer.

A variation on the g-t theme......

Ever hear of or taste a Moscow Mule? The only place I have seen this drink is at the country club where I tended bar. First, you needed a special copper mug, not dishwasher safe, about 10 ounce capacity. Ice. Vodka. Lime wedge. And ginger BEER.

Ginger beer is not easy to locate. Its not exactly cheap either. I occasionally track some down to make this drink in the summer.

Whoa. Old guys drink. That goes back to, what, late Sixties, early Seventies? It's really tasty if you can find real English ginger beer.

Well, I was tending bar about 1975-1977. And never saw the drink anywhere else. So if it was a fad, then I caught its dying gasps.

And, yes, it is tasty with good ginger beer. Again, I am partial to Schweppes.

A variation on the g-t theme......

Ever hear of or taste a Moscow Mule? The only place I have seen this drink is at the country club where I tended bar. First, you needed a special copper mug, not dishwasher safe, about 10 ounce capacity. Ice. Vodka. Lime wedge. And ginger BEER.

Ginger beer is not easy to locate. Its not exactly cheap either. I occasionally track some down to make this drink in the summer.

Drank these a bit back in college, at least partly because one roommate had a never-ending supply of vodka from his dad's cabinet. I never really liked them all that much, although I don't remember the particular ginger beer we used.

I had a Blenheim's ginger beer recently (sans alcohol) that was very good.

I was previously a bit averse to gin since my father used to give me a taste of his martinis (made ONLY with gin - never vodka) and I really hated the taste. Anyway, I have a friend who absolutely has to have his gin and tonics in the summer. Then, I saw something from David Rosengarten about a recipe for the perfect g&t. His assertion is that it must be made only from Plymouth Dry Gin, Schweppes Tonic Water and limes. He makes cubes from the Schweppes (as John T. mentioned), puts them in the glass with a healthy portion of the Plymouth gin, then fills with Schweppes and a large squeeze of lime. Well, I tried it and I'm an instant convert.

GIN!!! My drink of choice. Tanqueray, Please. I begin to salivate whenever I pass a juniper hedge. There is just something about the aroma of juniper that I find intoxicating. G&T=Heaven, to me. Following are a coule summertime drinks for you, courtesy of one of our local rags:

Wild Sage Martini
2 oz Tanqueray No. Ten gin
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
splsh of soda
4 to 5 fresh sage leaves, plus extra for garnish
slice of orange
Fill cocktain shaker with ice. Add ripped sage leaves and all other ingredients. Shake well. Yields 1 serving

Basil Bliss
4 oz Bacardi rum
5 basil leaves
1/2 oz each fresh lime and fresh lemon juices
splash of sparkling water
Fill a muddling glass with ice. Pour in rum and muddle the basil. Pur in juices and sparkling water. Shake well and serve. Yields 1 serving

According to a local mixologist, "Rosemary and sage pair well with vodka, mint blends with rum and oregano and basil mix nicely with gin. Experiment and...

Enjoy!

Ah, for the days when these old bones could take spirits with better grace. When I did, I drank G&T often throughout the summer.

These days, it's low alcohol Vinho Verde for refreshment, and with a drop of seltzer, plus a lime wedge, it almost...no it doesn't.

We go through a good amount of gin in this house.

Tanqueray for gin and tonics.
Hendricks and Tanqueray 10 for martini and negroni.

Jo Ann, you salivating, intoxicated gin lover, I've had a variation on that sage martini, and it is absolutely delicious. Yup, gin goes with lots of stuff thanks to its botanical base. And sage is one of them.

Funny, I wasn't a gin person for the longest time. Then one day I was in Paris with a native friend and we took a time out from his showing me his city at frenzied pace. We stopped at a sidewalk restaurant up toward Pigalle; it was a scorching hot summer afternoon, so as we were sucking in the exhaust fumes from the passing cars, we ordered drinks. My friend ordered a g&t. Honestly it looked---and smelled!--- so crisp and herbal and refreshing, I had to have one. Instant love.

That tall, slim glass with the fragrant gin (Tanqueray) nestled at bottom. The side bottle of Schweppes. The little bowl of ice cubes. The wedge of lime. Assembled, it was a marvelously quenching, invigorating, and restorative drink. Since that moment, I've savored gin. But only good gin; screw the cheap stuff.

That tall, slim glass with the fragrant gin (Tanqueray) nestled at bottom. The side bottle of Schweppes. The little bowl of ice cubes. The wedge of lime. Assembled, it was a marvelously quenching, invigorating, and restorative drink. Since that moment, I've savored gin. But only good gin; screw the cheap stuff.

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART -- I THINK I'M IN LOVE!

On our honeymoon to Bermuda 27 years ago (gosh, can that be right?) Liz and I discovered Boodles gin. We use that for our martinis and gin and tonics. If we have guests over, we use Tanqueray. Tanqueray is also the choice for anything that has a more flavorful mixer of some sort with it.
Being out of limes recently, however, we tried the newer Tanqueray that has lime and other flavors in it already. We were very impressed and it is now on my shopping list.
Just a side note: We brought a bottle of Boodles back from Bermuda with us and I've never let it run dry. New Boodles is purchased and poured into that old bottle so that the old honeymoon gin will 'educate' the new.

Just a side note: We brought a bottle of Boodles back from Bermuda with us and I've never let it run dry. New Booldes is purchased and poured into that old bottle so that the old honeymoon gin will 'educate' the new.

Jon, you incurable romantic!

But that leads to an interesting supposition: sort of like the 'endless stew', does that 'marriage' lead to continuity of a sort with the gin?

Hmmmmm.