It is the high season for a gin and tonic, a drink so simple to make I won’t bother with a recipe. Rather, I’d like to share some lessons that Lady Gin has taught me and offer a few suggestions for my fellow gin imbibers.
Gin has always been my favorite spirit. I admit to having begun with Gilbey’s, but bottom shelf was pretty much all I could afford in college. I upgraded to Tanqueray and Beefeater while in graduate school, and I distinctly recall the day when my husband, who also fancies gin, purchased a bottle of Gilbey’s intent on making gin and tonics. It was a bittersweet moment when we realized we could never go back to the cheap stuff; a good G&T demands quality ingredients. Our wallet might suffer but our palates wouldn’t.
Some 20 years later I’m still exploring gin and, with the explosion of gins on the market, there’s no better time to let gin stoke your curiosity. (The Bartender’s Gin Compendium by Gaz Regan is a helpful guide with great recipes to boot.) I like funky Bols Genever, made with malt wine. I enjoy cocktails crafted from sweeter Old Tom Gin, by Ransom Spirits in Oregon. And everything feels right with the world when sipping Small’s, a small-batch, highly botanical, cardamom-spiced gin also made by Ransom Spirits. Chicago-based North Shore Distillery is contributing to the gin craze as well with an American dry (No. 11), a London dry (No. 6) and even flavored gins. A bottle of North Shore doesn’t last long in our liquor cabinet.
Want a gin made closer to home? Look no further than Square One Brewery and Distillery. Its Regatta Bay Gin, like other “modern gins,” has less of a juniper jump compared to a traditional London dry style and, among the nine botanicals, Square One embraced its origins as a brewery by adding hops. Square One’s gin is so crisp and clean you might not even need a squeeze of lime in that gin and tonic. Look for it under the Spirits of St. Louis label at numerous area liquor stores and on-premise at the brewery in Lafayette Square.
As for tonic water, if you haven’t popped open a bottle of Fentimans or Q Tonic, you are missing out. And if you buy liter bottles, try using one of those pliers-like metal nutcrackers to close the cap tightly so the tonic doesn’t go flat. Like I said, I’ve learned a thing or two by drinking gin.
This article appears in June 2011.