The Spanish Gin Tonic — gin tonica — took the humble highball and made a ceremony of it. A great balloon glass, a mountain of good ice, a carefully chosen tonic, and a considered garnish turn two ingredients into something close to a tasting exercise.
The Gin & Tonic, taken entirely seriously.
The Copa Glass
The drink is built in a copa de balón — a wide, stemmed balloon glass. It is not affectation: the bowl holds a great deal of ice, which keeps the drink cold and slow to dilute, and the wide opening gathers the gin's aromatics and the garnish's perfume.
Gin and Garnish, Matched
The Spanish approach treats the garnish as a seasoning chosen for the gin. A citrus-forward gin might take grapefruit peel; a juniper-heavy one, a few crushed berries; a floral gin, a sprig of rosemary. The point is to amplify the spirit, not decorate the glass.
Tonic Matters
With only two ingredients, a flat or oversweet tonic ruins the drink. A premium tonic — properly dry, properly bubbly — is the whole second half of the cocktail. Add it gently, down a bar spoon, to keep the bubbles intact.
The Gin & Tonic Family
The classic highball — gin and cold tonic over plenty of ice, with a wedge of lime.
- 2 ozGin
- TopTonic water
- WedgeFresh lime
The G&T gone autumnal — sloe gin's dark berry sweetness blushing the tonic.
- 2 ozSloe gin
- 6 ozTonic water
- GarnishLemon wedge
The blushing G&T — bitters, or a fruit-forward pink gin, tinting the glass rose.
- 2 ozPink gin
- 6 ozTonic water
- GarnishFresh berries