Dixie gives references to several gin drinks here
Old and busted: Gin and Tonic. New hotness: Bitter Lemon. (Yeah, I don’t drink, so…)
Plus, the gin part of a G&T used to be to mask the quinine in the tonic water. Since most companies mask the quinine flavor anyway, the gin’s a bit… cliche. A better drink would be a Gentleman’s Weekend or a Lace Panties. (Hey, don’t look at me, the sober guy makes the best bartender.)
Links added to the quote as best as I could find them. Still I couldn’t find a gin drink called a “Lace Panties”, maybe Dixie could post a recipe?
FYI I didn’t drink until I was 21, but I tended bar on a tour boat at the age of 19. I never got any complaints on my drinks! That’s where I fell in love with gin. LOVED the smell coming out of that bottle. You see the woods behind my parent’s house where I spent most of my days were filled with wild junipers. Most times I’d come home in time for supper covered with needles and smelling just like a glass of gin. That juniper “Pine Tree” smell, smells like a fun day of adventuring in the woods to me. And its so clean and refreshing on a hot summer night!
Most of my gin consumption is on-the-rocks, often alone, but sometimes with a twist, or a dash of lime juice. Or in some form of a Martini or another. (The traditional gin and vermouth, but I also enjoy substituting Lillet Blanc for the vermouth, or subtracting one measure of gin for one measure of Curaçao and garnish with an orange slice. This gives a nice sweet orange flavor, while still preserving the full-bodied flavor of a true martini, and the color is to DIE for.)
For mixed drinks a Tom Collins is my favorite, followed by a Singapore Sling which I often make the lazy way with simply gin, cherry brandy, Collins mix, and a dash of vermouth. I also made an interesting twist to this sling and substitute Curaçao for the cherry brandy to make a Windex-colored concoction I call the “Caribbean Gin Sling”. Of course in the last post I mentioned the Gin Sea Breeze. I honestly don’t much care for the Gin and Tonic. I like gin straight, and I like tonic straight, but the two together doesn’t interest me much.
Oh, in college I concocted a drink from odds and ends that turned out very well.
Dead Priest (Named it after a scene from the Jim Jarmusch classic Night on Earth)
1 shot gin (adjust however stiff you want to make it)
Lemon Pepsi
twist of lemon
(If you don’t have lemon Pepsi or Coke, a dash of sugar can be added)
Rim a Collins glass with confectioner’s sugar (to make a white collar) and fill the glass with ice and add ingredients. Stir with bar spoon.
Not the best drink in the universe, but it also isn’t the type of drink you’d kick out of bed!
What drinks are your favorites?
Ah … for summer I love Pimms (since we’re talking gin, here) and Northern Neck (a local dry) Ginger Ale with a slice of cucumber.
Dr. Pepper
I’m also partial to unsweetened Sun Tea.
It’s spelled “teetotaler” not “teatotaler” 🙂
Seriously though,
I’ve never liked Gin. Always brought to mind drinking extract of automotive air freshener.
Before I quit drinking I had very simple tastes: Beer was number one on the list. Scotch on the rocks…didn’t even have to be particularly good scotch. Vodka martinis (yes, I know that’s really not a martini…don’t really care. I like what I like). Jack and coke, rum and Coke, 7 and 7…the old standby’s. Oh…and, of course, shots of Tequila if I was “out with the intent to drunk”.
I’ve always had very unpretentious, simple tastes and I’m OK with that.
Hey, a Vodka Martini is 110% Martini! A Martini is simply a cocktail that does not contain a non-alcoholic component. One just can’t get the nomenclature wrong. A “Martini” is Gin and Vermouth, Vodka and Vermouth is a “Vodka Martini”, Tequilla and Vermouth is a “Taquini” (Which actually sounds quite refreshing if you spend the big bux on the expensive silver stuff) My Curacao drink is still a Martini, but it isn’t simply a “Martini” (I call it a cobalt Martini….there is a Skyy Blue Martini that is Skyy vodka with curacao and vermouth).
I can understand the dislike of gin. Its a VERY distinctive taste, and as a general rule there are few few places where a “pine” flavor is worked into the American Pallet, so Juniper infused Vodka is most certainly going to taste alien to just about any Westerner. Which leads to its polarity. So will say “Alien, but good” others “Alien But Bad”…..and then strange dorks like me will say “It smells like the woods I used to play in!!!!” Why I think the woods need to be in my Mouth is probably why people call me “Weer’d”.
The big, big list of all tonic drinks: http://www.drinknation.com/drinks/ingredient/tonic-water Best ones would be the Gentleman’s Weekend, Lace Panties, El Cid, Blonde Bombshell, TNT #2, and the Mint Julep (Done Right). The Blonde Bombshell is actually a G&T made to look like… anything but a G&T. (chuckle)
I love tonic water for the same reason you love gin: that juniper smell. Though when I said “Bitter Lemon,” I meant the non-alcoholic drink– just citrus juice in tonic water.
I wonder how much tonic has changed since the days of the British Empire?
I really really like a good Dark N Stormy with home made ginger beer. But I’m a sucker for rum.
The quinine content is usually lower (much, much lower), they’ve added flavoring (usually juniper), and they usually carbonate it.
Now, if you look around, there’s a few companies (Fever Tree is my favorite) that still produce medicinal-level tonic water. The thing to look for is the water fluorescing in UV light– hold it up in natural light, and it should glow.
O.K. it sounds a little weird, but I like the taste on a hot day. Mix 1 shot of good gin with Margarita mix. Shake with ice and serve up.
We even gave it a name, A Maggie Thatcher. (grin)
Actually I was thinking when I typed the last review that the New Amsterdam with its citrus overtones would be ideal with the bright lime flavor of Margarita mix.
GREAT name too!