French gin? Gin and tonic, martini recipes

French gin? Oui! Several years ago, my friend Steve made my wife and I a drink with gin in it (I don't recall exactly what it was or what brand of gin it was). I had not really tried gin before, and I didn't care for it too much at the time. My wife's feelings were a little stronger -- I seem to recall her thinking it tasted like hairspray.

Several years passed before I gave gin a try again (in a gin and tonic, see below), and now I really like it. I don't know if it was a different brand of gin that I'd tried before, or just that maybe my tastes have changed as I've gotten older and now I like the taste of hairspray!

While in our local Kyle Twin Liquors, Michael recommended I try a French gin called Citadelle. It has an even stronger flavor of the botanicals and spices that make gin what it is than Bombay Sapphire. I used to think that gin was exclusively an English drink, but the French have done something magnifique with this gin. I tend to make either gin and tonics or classic martinis. The recipes I have been enjoying lately are as follows:

Gin and tonic
These are really refreshing in hot weather, which we occasionally get in Austin. The first time I had one of these was when my wife's uncle Si made some for us on a vacation in upstate NY in 2005, where we stayed in a lodge without A/C. An unexpected heat wave hit and it was 90+F all week, rather than the mid 70s more typical of that area. This drink came in handy (Si used Bombay Sapphire). Be careful, though ... it's very easy to down 3 of these drinks before you know it!

2-3 (depending on how rough your day was) ounces of Citadelle or Bombay Sapphire gin
tumbler / highball glass full of ice
Juice of 1/2 fresh lime
Tonic water/soda

Squeeze lime over ice, add gin, top off with tonic water, give a little stir

Martini
I don't tend to prefer the super-dry martinis which have almost no vermouth ... I tend to like a ratio of about 5-7 parts gin to 1 part vermouth. I also like it a little bit dirty (with a touch of the olive juice) -- you can leave this out if you want.
Shaker with plenty of ice
2-3 oz Bombay Sapphire or Citadelle gin
1/4-1/2 oz dry vermouth
little bit of juice (maybe 1/2 tsp) from a jar of olives
2-3 olives from same jar
chilled martini glass

Add gin, vermouth, and olive juice (may leave this out if desired) to shaker. Add 2-3 olives to a chilled martini glass. Stir or shake (that's a whole other debate), pouring over the olives.

For martini snobs that insist a super-dry martini is the only way it should be made, it's interesting to note that the original martini, The Martinez, which appeared in the 1860s-1870s, was mostly sweet vermouth and sweet gin. The current martini evolved over time (source, The Idiots Guide to Mixing Drinks).