The Tanqueray & Tonic (T&T)

OK. Let's cut to brass tax here. Some people like to fuck around with simple half and half drinks like the T&T. They like to pour, I don't know, a quarter booze and load the rest up with mixer. Or a third booze and two thirds mixer.

Then they like to preen and schmooze with the high-class douches, blowing kisses to each other over their... ahem... cocktails.

I'm too working class for that bullshit. When I pour a mixed drink, I want to taste the alcohol, because I enjoy the taste of alcohol. If I wanted to, say, drink tonic, then maybe I'd go heavy on the tonic and light on the gin.

And maybe I'd wear Nantucket Red slacks and a commodore's cap, and go cruising with all the other faux yachties Downtown.

Which begs the question: If you don't like the taste of gin, why not just drink tonic? Because the end result of anything less than a half and half T&T is exactly that: tonic with a splash of gin.

Pretty goddamned weak, if you ask me.

That out of the way, let's mix a hardcore Tanqueray and Tonic.

Ingredients are as follows:

Pint Glass

Ice

Tanqueray Gin (The normal stuff pictured above is fine. Tanqueray Ten is higher quality, and quite frankly wasted in T&T's.)

Tonic Water (Polar is inexpensive, and fine for our purposes.)

Lime

Preparation:

Fill your pint glass with ice

Fill halfway with gin (Of course, half depends on the eye of the beholder. Since I'm a booze optimist, half is always slightly more than half.)

Top off with tonic

Garnish with a lime wedge (Roughly an eighth of a lime, cut lengthwise. I always give my wedges a quick squeeze before throwing them in.)

I usually skip straws. Straws, far as I'm concerned, are for sodas.

Then again, if you're pouring less than a half and half T&T, straws are right up your alley. Slurp, slurp away.

Now, though we'll move ahead to more complex drinks, I'll occasionally throw in a half and half like the T&T for a little something easy. But the preparation will be much the same: Half booze, half mixer.

Next, we'll discuss another, more potent gin drink: The gin martini. We'll skip the Tanqueray next time, though, and move up to Bombay Sapphire.

P.S. If you want a quality ECONOMY gin and tonic, go with Gordon's gin and throw it in the fridge or freezer. At less than $20 for a handle (1.75 L bottle), the Gordon's provides potency and decent taste at an excellent price.

Bottom Line: T&T's are perfect on summer nights.