Don't get me started on gin!
Tanqueray is the gin of choice, it has a proper heft and density that high street brands relinquished years back (although I still rather like the oiliness of Beefeater). It makes the perfect G&T, the T should ideally be Fevertree tonic water that contains the authentic bitterness of real quinine. The gin should be kept in the freezer to attain the correct viscosity and cooling capacity, tonic in the fridge. Ice is only added for its aesthetic refractive and aural qualities, never for the purposes of chilling the drink.
Tanqueray Ten is a sneaky number, seemingly lighter and fresher due to a greater blending of citrus notes, but don't be fooled - this is deceptively heavy duty gin. I note that they have just reintroduced Tanqueray Malacca after a ten year gap. This is a rather spicy-peppery gin which overpowers if taken on its own, but blended with straight or Ten in a martini (a couple of drops is all that is required) it raises the most sophisticated of cocktails to entirely new heights. A bottle should last years. Martini's made with Tanqueray demand a lemon twist, never an olive. The best place in the northern hemisphere to get a sublime martini is the Old King Cole bar in the St Regis hotel in New York.
Hendricks makes a good martini too, but the aromatics used are cooler, and cucumber is the appropriate garnish. If you are ever in Melbourne (ideally on Xmas night, before the Boxing DayTest), take a bottle along to The Gin Palace, a very salubrious establishment down a distinctly insalubrious back-alley. They will thank you profusely, for it cannot be obtained easily in Australia, and they will make you the best martini in the southern hemisphere, and spoil you rotten.
Pink gin! Should you leave the bitters in or out? Which ever way a bottle of Angustura should last a lifetime, and indeed could be left to someone dear in your will. Try orange bitters too in a spicy gin. In fact, I think I will do just that...
Tanqueray is the gin of choice, it has a proper heft and density that high street brands relinquished years back (although I still rather like the oiliness of Beefeater). It makes the perfect G&T, the T should ideally be Fevertree tonic water that contains the authentic bitterness of real quinine. The gin should be kept in the freezer to attain the correct viscosity and cooling capacity, tonic in the fridge. Ice is only added for its aesthetic refractive and aural qualities, never for the purposes of chilling the drink.
Tanqueray Ten is a sneaky number, seemingly lighter and fresher due to a greater blending of citrus notes, but don't be fooled - this is deceptively heavy duty gin. I note that they have just reintroduced Tanqueray Malacca after a ten year gap. This is a rather spicy-peppery gin which overpowers if taken on its own, but blended with straight or Ten in a martini (a couple of drops is all that is required) it raises the most sophisticated of cocktails to entirely new heights. A bottle should last years. Martini's made with Tanqueray demand a lemon twist, never an olive. The best place in the northern hemisphere to get a sublime martini is the Old King Cole bar in the St Regis hotel in New York.
Hendricks makes a good martini too, but the aromatics used are cooler, and cucumber is the appropriate garnish. If you are ever in Melbourne (ideally on Xmas night, before the Boxing DayTest), take a bottle along to The Gin Palace, a very salubrious establishment down a distinctly insalubrious back-alley. They will thank you profusely, for it cannot be obtained easily in Australia, and they will make you the best martini in the southern hemisphere, and spoil you rotten.
Pink gin! Should you leave the bitters in or out? Which ever way a bottle of Angustura should last a lifetime, and indeed could be left to someone dear in your will. Try orange bitters too in a spicy gin. In fact, I think I will do just that...
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