Gin styles explained

Gin is vodka with an opinion. The opinion is botanicals, and juniper is always the loudest one.

What makes gin gin

Gin is a neutral spirit flavoured with botanicals, and juniper must be the dominant flavour. Everything else is the distiller's choice: coriander seed, angelica root, orris, citrus peel, cardamom, cassia, liquorice, cucumber, florals. Most gins use somewhere between six and a dozen. The botanicals are either steeped in the spirit and redistilled, or suspended in vapour so the alcohol passes through them, which gives a lighter result.

London dry

The benchmark style, and not a place: London dry can be made anywhere. It means all flavour comes from redistillation with botanicals and nothing is added afterwards except a small amount of water and, at most, a trace of sweetening. Juniper forward, dry, crisp, citrus and coriander behind it. This is the style for a gin and tonic, a martini, a negroni, a Tom Collins, a gimlet.

If you own one gin, own a London dry.

Plymouth

A protected style from one city in England. Slightly softer and earthier than London dry, with less juniper punch and a rounder finish. It makes a gentler martini and a very good pink gin.

Old Tom

The missing link between Dutch genever and London dry: lightly sweetened and fuller-bodied. It is the historically correct base for a Tom Collins and a martinez, and it takes the edge off if you find dry gin austere.

Navy strength

Any style bottled at 114 proof or above. The higher alcohol carries botanicals further, so cocktails taste more of gin even after dilution. Use it where citrus and sugar would otherwise flatten the spirit, such as a gimlet or a French 75. Not the bottle for a heavy pour.

Contemporary or new western

Gins that keep juniper legal but quiet, pushing citrus, florals, tea, cucumber or local botanicals forward instead. If you have decided you dislike gin, you probably met a heavily juniper-driven one, and a contemporary gin may change your mind. They are excellent with tonic and in spritzes, less good in a classic dry martini where juniper is the point.

Genever

The Dutch ancestor, made with a malty grain base, so it drinks closer to a light whiskey than to modern gin. Try it if you like malt.

Sloe gin

Not really gin but a liqueur: gin steeped with sloe berries and sugar. Lower in alcohol, red, tart and sweet. Good in a sloe gin fizz or topped with sparkling wine.

Picking a tonic matters as much as picking the gin

Tonic is more than half of a gin and tonic by volume. A dry, quinine-forward tonic lets a London dry taste like itself. A lighter or elderflower tonic suits a floral contemporary gin. Use a lot of ice, a tall glass and a wide strip of citrus peel rather than a squeezed wedge.

Which gin for which drink

Martini: London dry or Plymouth, kept cold. Gin and tonic: anything, matched to your tonic. Negroni: London dry, because it has to stand up to bitter and sweet vermouth. Gimlet or French 75: navy strength if you like it sharp. Tom Collins or martinez: Old Tom.

Selection changes week to week, so call to confirm a specific bottle.