GIN TONIC, THE SPANISH WAY

 

Gin tonic, Spanish style, in wide-mouthed glasses with herbs and botanicals.

It’s hot. I want a gin and tonic. Late summer’s dog days bring on the urge. I dust off the bottle of gin, chill the tonic, slice a lemon and fill a tall glass with ice.

What? That’s not correct? You’re telling me it’s “Gin Tonic,” not “gin and tonic”? Since when is it Spain’s trendiest drink? Serve it in a wide-mouth goblet with a few juniper berries and rose petals? 

I had to find my inner bartender. 

My interest was piqued when I saw a mention of “olive oil-washed gin.” Olive oil in gin? Anything with olive oil is right up my camino, so I had to try it. The term “oil-washed” is a way of saying “infused,” but the technique is not the same as steeping tea. (The directions are below.) 

Once I gathered a couple different gins, several types of tonic, a bunch of herbs, zests and other botanicals and made the olive-infused gin, I invited a couple guys to make different gin tonics. 

Here’s what you need for a gin tonic party.

Selection of gin at the supermarket.

The gin. Gin is a distilled spirit, usually colorless, aromatized with juniper berries and other botanicals (herbs, roots, fruit and fruit zest, spices). London dry gin is the classic, juniper-forward style, but there are lots more, including gins in every hue. Spain is a long-time producer of gin. Some of the main ones are Nordés Atlantic Gin (Galicia); Larios (Málaga); Gin Mare (Barcelona), and Puerto de Indias Strawberry Gin (Cádiz). 

Perfect for a gin tonic are some of the newer premium gins aromatized with local ingredients in addition to the usual botanicals. Some examples: Simbuya Purple Gin, distilled with purple carrots from Cuevas Bajas; Alborán, in four colors; Gin Malaka with jasmine; Oxén Spiritus with thyme, rosemary and bitter chamomile. 

There exist non-alcoholic “gins” such as Seedlip and Tanqueray 0.0. 

Full disclosure: I have not tried any of the listed gins, except for Larios 12, which I bought for the gin tonic sampling.

The tonic. Tonic water is essentially a carbonated drink, lightly sweetened and aromatized, that contains quinine, giving it the characteristic bitter flavor. As with gin, there are many brands and blends available. In addition to the regular sort, we tried elderflower tonic (Fever-Tree) and pink peppercorn tonic (Schweppes).

Hibiscus, pink peppercorns, cardamom, juniper.

The botanicals. Choose additions to the gin tonic to point up the botanicals in the gin or to complement them. Also, for pretty. Play bartender: try fresh herbs and flowers. Here are some suggestions: peels of lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit, plus wedges of citrus fruits; sprigs of fresh herbs such as basil, mint, fennel, rosemary, thyme, lemon verbena; olive leaves; cardamom; ginger; juniper berries; pink peppercorns; berries; dried hibiscus flowers; edible flowers or petals. 

At the supermarket, I found botanicals especially packaged for gin tonic, including juniper, pink peppercorns, cardamom and dried hibiscus flowers (Carmencita brand). From the booklet enclosed in the packet, here are instructions: “For the more classic gins, use lemon zest to heighten their aromas. For the smoother flavored gins, use orange zest. For the more floral and aromatic gins, use grapefruit zest.” 

The glasses. No, not a tall highball glass. For a Spanish gin tonic you need copas de balón, balloon glasses, wide-mouthed stemmed goblets. 

The ice. A mixologist pro would insist on absolutely clear cubes or cylinders, the larger the better, so as not to dilute the drink. You can also make ice with fruit juices or freeze flowers, berries or herbs in the cubes. (My experiment making clear ice did not work (boil water twice before freezing). Not only were the cubes not clear, but I cracked them in extracting from the tray! A friend brought a bag of ice purchased at the gas station.)

The gin tonic bar: The bottle on the left contains olive-oil washed gin. There's also a London dry gin and a premium Málaga gin, several kinds of tonic, citrus fruits for zesting, botanicals and fresh herbs and berries. 

How to mix a Gin Tonic: 

Chill the glasses. Add a couple of ice cubes to the glass. Swirl it around and add the ice to the next glass and repeat. Pour out any melted water. Fill the glasses with ice.

Rub the rim of the glass with a strip of citrus zest (orange, lemon, lime or grapefruit) and drop the zest into the glass. Or, use a sprig of fresh herb. In the photo, Ben has curled a strip of cucumber inside the glass and rubs the rim with fresh mint.

Additions to a gin tonic, clockwise from upper left, lemon verbena, basil, rosemary, olive leaves, raspberries, mint and thyme. 

Add botanicals. Muddle or crush juniper berries and fresh herbs very lightly to release their volatile oils and drop them into the glass. In the photo, Lars has crushed juniper berries in a mortar.

Add gin. Pour 2 fluid ounces/ 50 ml gin over the ice. Lars is sampling Larios 12, a gin produced in Málaga with 12 botanicals, including six citrics and a subtle whiff of orange blossom. 

Fill with tonic. Pour tonic water over the back of a spoon so as not to release the bubbles. 

Garnishes? Add flower petals, if using, to the top of the drink.

Olive Oil-Washed Gin

Gin Pasado por Aceite de Oliva

Half a bottle of gin on the left plus 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

I didn’t want to use a whole bottle of gin for this experiment—what if we didn’t like it? I used Beefeater, a traditional London dry gin, and Picual variety of extra virgin olive oil, which has a peppery bite to it. To prepare this oil-infused gin, you need a glass or plastic container with a lid, a fine strainer and a paper coffee filter. 

12 fl. ounces (1 ½ cups) dry London gin

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, Picual variety

Sprig of thyme (optional)

Combine the gin, oil and thyme, if using, in a jar. Put on the lid and shake well to combine the gin and oil. Leave the gin 24 hours to infuse, shaking occasionally.

Disc of frozen olive oil.

Place the container in the freezer overnight (8 hours), until the olive oil rises to the top and solidifies. (The gin will not freeze.)

Loosen the disc of frozen oil and remove it. Pour the gin through a fine strainer into a clean jar. Discard the thyme. Pour the strained gin through a dampened coffee filter into a bottle. Cap tightly. Gin is ready to use in cocktails.

(I used the “gin-washed olive oil” that was strained out for cherry gazpacho.)

The results: The olive oil was very subtle in the gin, but it gave the gin a nice "fatty" mouth-feel. A sprig of thyme and a Manzanilla olive aromatized the gin tonic nicely. The oil-washed gin might also be good in a dry martini.

More ideas for gin tonic:

Lemon Sangriá with Gin and Botanicals

Chamomile Gin.

Lemon Tonic Ice