The Gin 'n Tonic is one very popular drink in Dubai. Yeah - here are a lot of Brits. But it is also a really great drink - and it defies very much the heat!
For Blue Jade I wanted to break with the normal highball procedure, and really wanted to shake a drink up. As I reviewed East Imperial before, and titled it "not a lazy bartender tonic", I thought it will work as ingredients far better than any other tonic. It has some medium sweetness - however no acidity, which we will anyway apply with some fresh citrus juice...
There is some muddled lemongrass [yeah - I don't usually like to muddle, but lemongrass just usually taste not that great, if used differently] - but the game changer is here the house crafted pandan syrup.
It just brings the whole G&T into the East!
The Jade Gin 'n Tonic
We didn't only called it Jade G and T because of Blue Jade, but as we use house-crafted pandan syrup, which colors the drink in a beautiful green [completely without artificial colorants!].
5 cl Bombay Sapphire
2 cl fresh lime
2 cl pandan rich syrup
1 stalk lemongrass
1 btl East Imperial Tonic Water
Prechill your Boston glass [or shaker] - as well as your highball glass [or goblet].
Muddle 1/2 stem of lemongrass in the stainless steel part of the shaker.
Pour all liquid ingredients [except of the tonic water] over the ice cubes in the Boston glass [remove before the melted water] and shake virtuously for 15 seconds.
Fine strain over ice cubes into the highball or goblet. Garnish with a lime wedge, pandan leave and the rest of the 1/2 lemongrass as stirrer. Serve the East Imperial Tonic Water separate and fill up the glass in front of the guest [or for yourself when it is for you].
Pandan syrup
Use a full pandan leave bundle and snip it with scissors in 1 cm pieces.
Add those into a blender. Add little water and blend the hell out of it [2 minutes on high].
Pour out the paste into a cheese cloth and press it out - keep the emerald green "juice".
Add the pulp back to the blender - again add a little water and blend again. Pour it again into the cheese cloth and squeeze it out [press it into the previous badge of "juice"]. Repeat this procedure once more - then discard the pulp.
Measure 2 parts of sugar to 1 parts of pandan infused water and blend everything [in a cleaned blender] until the sugar is completely dissolved. Voila - your pandan syrup.
I actually asked the guys of Bacardi [Bombay Sapphire is owned by Bacardi] if they have Bombay Sapphire East. Obviously this would well work with the overall vibe and especially with Blue Jade - but "East" is not available in the [UAE] market.
Finally I was pretty happy, that I didn't used this product- but fresh lemongrass [Bombay Sapphire East is more or less the normal Bombay Sapphire but with added botanicals: black pepper and lemon grass] and standard Bombay Sapphire. The gin here has still great 47% abv - and not the inferior 40% like in Europe [and the East contains only 42%].
But the shaking adds quite some melting water - so we need the extra % alcohol here!
Overall this drink is great. It welcomes with typical G&T characteristics, but very soon reveals some hints of lemongrass. As next hint comes the "sweet grass'iness" of pandan - which is rather subtle.
The East Imperial really shines here - as it let the lime do its thing, without adding acidity. But its bitterness and root'iness is definitely there to make it a superior gin and tonic.
Lecker, lecker! Yeah - it is not as easy than a normal G&T - but I guess, it is a bit a new attempt, to offer this classic without reciting too much the British - nor the new Spanish style - it is new - as well as authentic!
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