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MADE IN USA WEEK wraps up with an American-made cocktail. Read the rest of the series here (VOL. 1), here (VOL. 2), here (VOL. 3), and here (VOL. 4).  It's Friday, it's hot as balls, and it's time to drink. When things get particularly sweaty, I gravitate toward an old standby that can cool down any sticky summer day: the Gin and Tonic. But as you've probably come to expect by now, I don't get down with just any G&T. Read on for some fancy shit.  The first and most important step in the path to upping your G&T game is to get some good tonic concentrate. I like the Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. Small Batch and Elderflower Tonics, but any quality tonic concentrate will do. Add it to some soda water and you've got yourself a kickass base for your cocktail. But beware, dear reader, for bad/mediocre tonic abounds, from the cheap bottled stuff to the 100% quinine-free soda water your average bartender shoots out of that nifty gun. Don't make the same mistake when you invite that girl from your improv class to come over for afternoon cocktails.  As for the gin, use something tasty, but don't go crazy; the drink is so diluted that some of the nuance of the spirit is lost, so don't bother with your expensive barrel aged gins and whatnot. I've been using Aria Portland Dry Gin, as of late, due to it's clean taste and fair price, but there are plenty of well-made, well-priced American gins on the market and it's pretty hard to go wrong in the 30-40 USD range.
So there you go: an all-American cocktail to pour down your gullet in between mouthfuls of charred meat while you get sunburnt to death. That's drinking like a true patriot. Happy Fourth of July, everybody! |