The best gin-and-tonic I ever had was at José Andres' house last spring. The ebullient chef behind Jaleo, Café Atlantico, Oyamel, Zaytinya and more made it with Hendricks, a gin from Scotland with a slight hint of cucumber in its flavor. Some bartenders see this as a pointer to add slices of cucumber peel. This is a mistake. Do as José. He crushed two mint leaves against the mound below his thumb and dropped them in, along with several lightly crushed juniper berries and some paper-thin slices of lemon. His tonic was Fever Tree.

But in a co-starring role were the ice cubes. Each glass could only take one, since it was a cube of around three inches. You can see one in the glass in my photo. The joy of this, aside from its beauty, was that it melted so slowly that the gin-and-tonic wasn't diluted. I haven't yet been able to extract from José the source of these gems but have had not a bad substitute using plastic yogurt pots cut down to size. Since you have to break them to extract the ice, my yogurt consumption has been forced to rise.

Gin, known by many English-speakers as 'Mother's Ruin' (with a certain amount of historical accuracy, history taking us right up to last night), was invented some time in the 1600s by the Dutch who called it, more comfortably 'Genever', after the juniper berries that flavor it, as a cure for various ailments. The tonic was contrived by the British Raj in India and the tropics to mix with gin and this way, they insisted, combat malaria. One of the major accomplishments - and best recipes - of the British Empire...

There are many different kinds, from dry to quite sweet. Here are some excellent tasting notes, taken from New Heights restaurant's Gin Joint menu. John Wabeck, once New Heights' chef, now at Inox in Tysons Corner as sommelier, drew up the list and wrote the notes and has done the same for the tonics. (Logan Cox is now the chef at New Heights, an adventurous restaurant that does interesting takes on American contemporary cuisine, sometimes applying the spices familiar to its Indian owner.)

Descriptions run from the driest gin to the richest:
 
Plymouth – very dry, it’s very own style
Plymouth Sloe Gin - Sloe Berry Flavored
Broker’s – juniper and lemon peel
Boodles – anise and almonds
Beefeater – a classic, coriander and juniper
Zuidam – juniper, lemon anise. very crisp
Bombay – Gin flavored
Bombay Sapphire – angelica, cassia bark
Old Raj Red - same aromatics as Old Raj but lower proof
Old Raj – saffron and orange peel
Tanqueray – lime, juniper
Citadelle – complex, floral
Van Gogh – citrus, cumin. Add a splash of Peychaud’s
Blue Coat – white pepper, orange rind
Tanqueray 10 – citrus, cardamom
Rogue Spruce Gin - spruce, olive, mint, juniper
Rogue Spruce Pink – orange peel, coriander, aged in pinot noir barrels
Hendrick’s – cucumber, rose petals
Magellan – Iris root. Floral. Baking Spices. It’s Blue
Back River – lavender, lemon peel
Junipero – coriander, baking spices
Tanqueray Rangpur – rangpur limes, lime zest
Aviation – vanilla, lemon, violets
209 – the California Cab of gin; meyer lemon, juniper
G-Vine – (from grapes) candied licorice, grape flowers
Damrak - close to the original style. Developed aromas. Blood orange and floral. Best neat or on the rocks
Zuidam Genever - Original Style, Malty and Rich
Bols Genever – Malty, Violets
 
New Heights' Tonics
 
Fever Tree – very dry, tons of quinine, best with drier gins
Schweppes – dry, aromatic, best with medium gins
Seagram’s - medium bodied, best with rich gins
Canada Dry – Full bodied, citrus-y, best with richer gins
Fever Tree Bitter Lemon- lots of lemon peel, still quite rich. Best with fullest body gins

New Heights is located at2317 Calvert St NW, 202 234 4110.

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