Gin and Tonic is perhaps the best cocktail in the world, or at least the best summer cocktail. This new book gives the Spanish twist on this special drink.

The Spanish have so embraced the G&T that it’s a national drink. Of course not for them the G&T of the English golf course or country pub, a warm drink with a sad lemon, rapidly melting ice and nasty tonic water.

For them it’s a big drink. A great big drink in a big glass stuffed with crackling ice cubes, a generous measure of gin (usually not actually measured) and some proper tonic.

That the gin often seems to be mysteriously lacking in any alcoholic properties, despite the generous quantities, can perhaps be put down to the gin they use. I swear some Spanish hotels I’ve been in have been shamelessly watering down the bottles, too.

This pleasingly compact book, easy to slip into the pocket before you slip under the table, has 40 recipes for Gin Tonica, starting with instruction on the type of glass to use and the way to do things properly. Not least of which is to swirl the ice around that giant glass so that your Gin Tonika is properly cold.

The big glass doesn’t just give a drink large enough to quench thirst in searing sunshine, it also allows the aromas to gather and rise up.

Gin Tonica first got a foothold in Spain in around 2008 apparently and mostly in the Basque region. It coincided with the growth of gin types, no longer did Gordon’s rule the small roost. At the same time Schweppes were schwept aside by a host of tonic makers and a desire to garnish in new and exciting ways.

Gin flavour profiles fall into one or two categories, classic, herbal, floral, citrus, sweet-spicy and savoury-peppery. Some tonics also have profiles, some are all rounders. This book will clue you in on all the gins as well as all the tonics. There are even Japanese gins.

So, basically, this book is as much a guide to gins and tonics of the world as it is a guide to Gin Tonica and fits in well with the gin craze that shows no sign of slacking off just yet.

Pour yourself a large one, get a deckchair and browse away.

{ISBN:1849758530}