FF- Your community Magazine
Page 26
Female Focus
My
Perfect Gin and
Tonic By Alan Silver
Let’s start with a fact. Spain is the 3rd largest consumer of gin per capita in the world. When I first heard that I was surprised. How did Spain go from being ambivalent to gin to loving the stuff. There used to be a few gins available here, including Larios, but now the range of gins available is simply stunning, from the cheap to the ridiculously expensive.
According to Forbes magazine, it all started when a renowned chef – Rafael Garcia Santos – began to hold Gastronomy summits. The top chefs would discuss food all day and then retire to a local bar and drink the rather unfashionable gin and tonic. Urban legend has it that word got out that Spain’s top chefs liked a gin and tonic, thus inspiring a surge in popularity.
I’ve titled this article ‘my perfect G&T’ because there is not one perfect G&T, but there is one for you. I’ve tried many different gins and you’ll usually find Tanqueray Rangpur, Portobello, and good old Larios in my fridge. Now, Larios is considered second rate and I think this is a mistake. It’s what I call
a good everyday gin and at between 10€ and 11€ for a litre bottle in most supermarkets, it’s pretty good value. The Portobello is quite dry, and mixes well with the fancier tonics, and if you like really fruity tangy tastes, then the Tanqueray Rangpur, which is infused with limes, is excellent.
When it comes to tonics, there are what I call standard – such as Schweppes and Nordic Mist, and then there are the fancy ones such as Fever Tree’s selection. The fancy ones have a distinct taste which is great, but is often at odds with the unique taste of more premium gins. If I’m drinking a premium gin, I tend to stick to Schweppes. If it’s an everyday gin, then something like Fever Tree can spice it up. But as I said, it’s all down to your personal taste. And with such a wide selection of both gins and tonics, there’s simply years of experimenting to do – life is hard!
It doesn’t stop there. There’s the issue of how much of a slice should you add. I was startled to try a G&T with cucumber recently – why had I not tried that before! I’ve seen people add frozen berries and can vouch for raspberries in a G&T. Some add dried juniper berries and even star anise. The configurations are almost endless.
So what’s my favorite G&T. Well it goes something like this. Take a large glass (because why waste time refilling after 10 minutes), and add 3 decent sized rocks of ice. Squeeze the juice from a lime over the ice and wipe the rim of the glass. Add Larios gin (try the Larios 12) and count to 5 seconds. Now, take the peel from the lime, a lemon, an orange and a grapefruit and pop them in the glass. Slowly pour your tonic over the ice, gin, and citrus peel, but don’t fill the glass. Finally top up with another 2 second shot of gin and ‘bounce’ the ice to mix. Leave it for a good 5 minutes (yes it’s hard) and then enjoy this fruity, refreshing G&T. It’s an everyday G&T which won’t break the bank, and looks great when served for your guests!
So that’s it. A great way to experiment is to find a Gintoniceria – a dedicated G&T watering hole (only in Spain!), and make sure someone else is driving you home!
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