Gin cocktails

Gin is juniper and, around it, an entire garden: coriander, angelica, citrus peel, orris root. Every brand picks its own blend of botanicals, which is why two gins can give you two different drinks from the same recipe.

That complexity is both its advantage and its demand. In a Gin & Tonic the gin shows off; in a Negroni it fights as an equal with vermouth and bitter; in a Dry Martini it is left almost alone with nowhere to hide. Start with a classic London Dry — it is the benchmark everything else is measured against.