gin + tonic for the win

[caption id="attachment_22" align="alignnone" width="750"] Big Gin from Captive Distilleries[/caption] As a connoisseur of a fine, and often even a mediocre, cocktail I've crafted a love for a delicious gin+tonic. Not much can beat a refreshing gin+tonic on a hot sticky evening after a stressful day at the office. Don't get me wrong - a cold domestic beer, two fingers of good bourbon or scotch, a splash of riesling or even a refreshing strong island ice tea (well maybe not that last one) on a hot evening can help beat the heat and take the proverbial edge off. But at the moment - my go to is a hand-crafted gin+tonic made with my love right in my own kitchen. Here goes (my first recipe on bottle&flame):

1. Get a glass - any size will do depending on how much relaxation you think you need 2. Get a lime - regular limes work and so do key limes, you'll just need more key lime if you want to go down that road 3. Get some tonic - 1. Living it up - then go with Fevertree Tonic Water in those adorable tiny little bottles 2. Cheaping it up - go with Canada Dry or Seagram's Diet Tonic. Same awesome tonic flavor without those pesky calories 4. Get some gin - here is where it can get crazy fun to experiment 1. Tried & tested gins to stock your bar 1. Tanqueray Gin \- Solid bar stock that fits the bill nicely. This felt fancy in college, but has lost some it's cache as boutique gins have come in to favor 2. Beefeater Gin \- Great standby and won't break the bank. Feels a bit old-man to drink Beefeater and sometimes that feels cool. Need to try the Beefeater 24 and will write about that later. 3. Bombay Sapphire Gin \- Small step up in quality and flavor, bit more spendy 4. Hendricks Gin \- Man oh man this is delicious and my excellent go-to that always should be stocked in your bar 2. New & exciting gins to test your tastebuds 1. Crater Lake Gin \- Pleasantly surprised at the juniper flavor and freshness when trying this on our recent vacation to Sunriver 2. Aviation Gin \- Deliciously smooth and refreshing. Not as much juniper bite, so it'll make a solid gin+tonic and can be used for other cocktails with ease 3. Citadelle Gin \- If you feel extra fancy then crack open a bottle of Citadelle - trust me it'll be worth it 4. Tanqueray Rangpur Gin \- Already has a lot of key lime flavor, so you probably won't need to add any extra lime. Unless you are feeling extra limey. 5. Big Gin \- My new go-to for when I want to get fancy at home with my gin+tonic. See the photo above 6. Martin Miller Gin \- Man oh man this is amazing gin and if you want extra horsepower get the Westbourne Strength

Now bottle&flame's 10 steps to fashioning a gin+tonic. 1. Cut a nice fresh wedge of lime - organic or key lime if you wanna get crazy 2. Squeeze the lime in the glass 3. Drop the wedge of lime in the glass - keep that flavor hanging around 4. Splash some gin in your glass - as much or as little as you want depending on how much you need to relax 5. Pour in some tonic water - again, as much or as little as you want to lighten or strengthen the flavor of your gin+tonic 6. Drop in a few cubes of ice - leave this till the end, so you don't water down your gin+tonic prematurely 7. Stir it up - grab a kitchen knife, a chopstick, a cocktail stirrer, a straw or anything tall and skinny to stir up your gin+tonic 8. Sit back 9. Put your feet up 10. Enjoy your fine handcrafted gin+tonic and feel the edge being taken off

Up next on bottle&flame - slow cooked pasta sauce with italian sausage