Welcome back to another Thursday Happy Hour, where I celebrate my love for all things booze! This week's installment is on another of my favorite spirits: gin. I feel like gin was rather underappreciated for awhile there; perhaps I'm imagining things, but it seemed as though everyone was drinking vodka and wrinkling their noses at gin. Fortunately -- and rightly so! -- however, gin is having a renaissance with the rise of the mixologist and can be seen featured on overpriced cocktail menus in most hipster havens and mid-level cities across America.
As for me, I've been a gin girl since the moment I started drinking, with an appreciation for the spirit passed on to me by my Bombay Sapphire-loving father. And as a result, Sapphire is still, to me, the pinnacle of gin. Admittedly, we can't really afford to stock our home bar with top shelf gin, so the only time I really have the good stuff is when visiting parents and thus, Bombay Sapphire equals most of my knowledge of "the good stuff." Which is not a complaint, mind you, because it's delicious, and many consider it one of the best gins in the world. So. I also seem to recall getting to try Hendricks once or twice, and that, too, is a delight with its light, cucumber-flavor
As with bourbon (and as with all things), Matt and I are always on the lookout for the best quality we can get for a lesser price point. The thing that is delightful about gin is the taste; unlike vodka, gin has flavor, and that's part of the
point. I understood the allure of vodka in college when the goal was to get as drunk as possible in the shortest amount of time so that you could get on with the business of doing things you were going to regret the next morning, but we're all sophisticated adults now, with slightly more high level goals. And even if those goals still involve getting drunk and doing regrettable things, let's sip on something a little bit more interesting beforehand, shall we?
At any rate, the trick with finding a good quality gin that's a good deal is to get a decent flavor, without it being too harsh. Cheap gins tend to be really overpowering in their juniper-flavor and burniness (tm), while a lot of mid-level gins tend to be too smooth, without much gin-flavor at all. My go-to for martinis and classic gin cocktails is usually New Amsterdam gin. It's a little too smooth and a little on the tasteless side to be completely honest, but it's a good price point (around $18 for a large bottle) and has enough flavor to lend itself nicely to most classic gin cocktails, even martinis. We recently branched out and tried a new gin called Kinsey, that I thought was really tasteless at first, but it's been growing on me a little. It makes a decent martini, and a nice gin old-fashioned, but I still think it's a bit too much on the tasteless-side, and I think the New Amsterdam has perhaps a
little more bite, which I like.
Pro-tip: In the summer months, we become a two-gin household, where we have our good gin for classic cocktails where the taste of the gin matters, and then our gin-and-tonic gin, because in the summers here, few things are as refreshing as a gin and tonic, but the taste of the gin matters less when mixed with tonic water (unless you're my father, whose gin and tonics are gins with a splash of tonic.) Stretches the budget, and the gin! Win-win.
But regardless of what brand of gin you go with, how will you drink it (besides through your mouth and down your throat, you smartasses)? Why, in a delicious cocktail, most likely! Probably my most oft enjoyed gin cocktail (besides a gin and tonic) is a dirty martini (which you should know how to make by now, my goodess!) But sometimes to vary it, I sip one of the following three:
The Bee's Knees
This is a great, strong cocktail, that pleases even people who think they don't like the flavor of gin, or even any strong alcohols. I once served this to a friend who only drinks super fruity drinks or Riesling or champagne, and she loved this drink and kept wanting me to make it for her. It's a deceptively simple drink, but quite delicious, with a pleasant touch of sweetness. Don't worry about the residue honey in your cocktail shaker; the honey isn't supposed to dissolve completely in the gin, just lightly flavor and infuse it.
1 1/2 gin
1 tsp honey
Generous squeeze of lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shakeshakeshake. Strain over an up class and serve. And while you're at it, why not finish with a lemon peel or a slice of lemon, you classy minx, you?
Negroni
Another classic, the Negroni requires the acquisition of a bottle of -- and a taste for -- Campari. But let me tell you, once you acquire the taste for Campari, whoo boy! Few things start off a night of classy indulgence quite like a Negroni -- for me, it is to a spaghetti Bolognese dinner what a martini is to a steak dinner (you're welcome for the SAT prep): the perfect apertif.
1 1/2 oz gin
3/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake it like a Polaroid picture. Strain over an up glass. Then go ahead and garnish with an orange peel, because a drink worth making is worth drinking right.
Gin Old-Fashioned
I came across this drink recipe on
Esquire's site and I'm very glad I did. There are three variations, each more delightful than the last.
First, for the classic Gin Old-Fashioned, you simply put a sugar cube in an old-fashioned class, shake a few dashes of bitters on top and muddle with 1tsp water until sugar dissolves. Stir in 2oz of gin and add a couple of ice cubes. Done.
The second variation, called a Fancy Gin Old-Fashioned, is the exact same drink, except you take a thin strip of lemon peel and squeeze it over the glass, then rub it along the rim. You'd think it wouldn't make a difference, but you would be WRONG. This is the version I drink the most, because besides being a fancy lady, it's easy to make.
However, if I've got the ingredients and am feeling even fancier, the Esquire-recommended Improved Gin Old-Fashioned is delicious. It's the exact same drink as the Fancy Gin Old-Fashioned (you can use simple syrup, btw, instead of the muddled sugar), but with the addition of a tsp of Cointreau (I used the Agavero orange liqeur when I made it, and that worked just fine.)
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What are your favorite brands of gin? What are your favorite gin drinks? Do you sometimes have "off-nights?" What are those, by the way?
Happy drinking!
