The Perfect G&T: So Easy to Make and So Easy to Screw Up

It was not my intent to let so much time elapse between posts, but two things happened that played havoc with my schedule: I went to Boston, and while I was there I broke a toe.

Until the last event occurred, it was a wonderful visit with my family who had gathered to celebrate my son’s new house. We got in plenty of sightseeing in that iconic town, ate well, and laughed a lot. And I was delighted at the end of each day when my son The Professor served up ice cold Gin and Tonics, the quintessential summer cocktail.

Gin and Tonics were the ritual late afternoon summer drink of my parents and when I was old enough, I too learned to enjoy the refreshing zing of a G&T. But somewhere along the way, I misplaced my love for that drink and got totally absorbed in the wine thing. And while a chilled Sauvignon Blanc is indeed splendid on a hot summer afternoon, nothing but nothing hits the spot like a Gin and Tonic.

The Professor was serving Hendricks gin with Schweppes tonic, garnished with a wedge of lime. Hendricks is a lovely gin made in Scotland and is notable for its floral nose. Hendricks has toned down the typical juniper taste of most gins and what you taste instead is the infusion of rose petals and cucumber. The Wall Street Journal declared Hendricks the “Best Gin in the World” in 2003, and in the last few years Hendricks has become an urban legend of sorts. But it’s a little pricey: My favorite local liquor store, Ojai Beverage Company, sells a 750 ml bottle for $35. Hendricks is really hot right now even though it is apparently be too floral for some. (One surly mixologist on Chowhound.com declared, “Hendricks tastes like perfume from CVS!”)

Still, Ojai Beverage Company can barely keep Hendrick’s in stock and on my last visit they were out, so they steered me toward a limited edition London dry gin that they think is superb and is priced remarkably well: Broker’s. Never heard of it, says I. But Broker’s has an impressive pedigree, having thoroughly trounced Hendrick’s in the 2010 Ultimate Spirits Challenge in New York. And, get this, it was only $22 for a 750 ml bottle!

Broker’s has a stronger juniper taste than Hendrick’s but it’s softened with citrus and cassia, making it very smooth. One spirits expert said: “A classic old-style gin with no apologies. A retro type of gin of the kind before the sissified lighter gins started being blended.”

Some advice from the experts: since tonic water is so pronounced in a G&T, use the best you can find. And use single-serving bottles, not the giant-sized bottles that go flat quickly. Don’t use so much tonic that you can’t taste the gin. Keep your favorite gin in the freezer and your favorite tonic water in the refrigerator. Room temperature gin and tonic water poured over ice cubes just doesn't cut it.

Back at home, I started making G&Ts with Broker’s and Fever-Tree Indian tonic water, garnished with mint from the garden. In the evenings, I just plop down in the welcome shade of the back patio, elevate the foot with the broken toe on an ottoman, and sip an ice cold Gin and Tonic.

My Perfect G&T

Ice cubes (Try using tonic water ice cubes: Fill an empty ice cube tray with tonic water and freeze.)

2 Ounces Broker’s gin, chilled

1 6.8-ounce bottle of Fever-Tree tonic water, chilled

Fill a tall, narrow, chilled glass with ice cubes. Pour the gin over the ice, then fill the glass almost to the top with tonic water. Garnish with a wedge of lime or a sprig of fresh mint (wash with fresh water first). If you’re using Hendrick’s gin, garnish with a long wedge of cucumber to complement the flavor of the gin.

Blueberries for the Fourth

Let’s be honest: There is nothing hokier than the Fourth of July. And nothing tastier than the food we consume that day. In every town and hamlet in the country, the day proceeds in a certain order: parade, picnic, pyrotechnics.

Like a moth to the flame, I keep showing up at Ojai’s Independence Day Parade even though the players stay pretty much the same from the year to year. The lineup includes plenty of horses, the high school marching band, Chumash Indian dancers in full regalia and the ragtag Keep The Sespe Wild gang, our local advocates for preserving the river than flows through the national forest surrounding the Ojai Valley. I think my friend Joan nailed it years ago when she remarked, “whatever you’re proud of, just put a leash on it and drag it down the street.” It's about as Americana as it gets.

I thought Ojai’s was the smallest small-town parade of all, until I visited Aptos with my son and grandchildren last year. Not to be outdone by its bigger and kookier neighbor to the east -- Santa Cruz -- Aptos boasts “The World’s Shortest Parade,” a two-block romp down the main drag by every youth sports team, four-legged animal, community non-profit volunteer, pickup truck and VW bug for miles around. This year is the 50^th anniversary of the World’s Shortest Parade, which should be something to behold, although I can’t imagine how any more visitors could crowd in along that two-block stretch.

Parades are fun, but nothing describes the Fourth better than the food we eat on that holiday. Fourth of July picnics are iconic: grilled burgers and hot dogs, corn on the cob, and the red-white-and-blue trifecta of watermelon, ice cream and blueberries.

In Maine (the largest producer of wild blueberries in the world), where I lived for three summers, the wild blueberries are just getting ready for picking in early July, and the harvest culminates in a flurry of blueberry festivals in late August. Maine blueberries are the native lowbush variety that grows naturally in fields and barrens throughout the state. The berries are much smaller than the cultivated varieties found in the most supermarkets, but are thought to have more nutritional value and more flavor impact.

Once on a very hot day in late July, I joined a group of Mainers on a hike to a blueberry barren outside of Camden. Armed with blueberry rakes that look like dustpans with tines, we poked and jabbed at the bushes and tried to get enough to take back to Cellardoor Winery where we were going to participate in a cooking class using blueberries. “No wonder blueberries are expensive,” I whined to our instructor. “This is really hard work!”

If you are lucky enough to have a surfeit of blueberries in your kitchen, make a batch of this simple and versatile blueberry sauce. You can use it on pancakes, waffles, French toast, cheesecake, blintzes, ice cream, bread pudding or pound cake.

Blueberry Sauce

3/4 Cup sugar

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

2/3 Cup water

3 Cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (if necessary), washed and picked over

Pinch of salt

1/8 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

Zest of 1 lemon

Place the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and water in a medium saucepan and stir until smooth. Stir in the berries and place the pan over medium heat. Cook until the liquid thickens and becomes clear. Taste to see if more sugar is needed. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Makes 3 cups.

Pudwill Berry Farm in Nipomo brings all kinds of berries to the Ojai Farmers' Market every week. 

They grow 20 acres of berries year-round in hoop houses.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone.