Skip to main content

The Jade Gin & Tonic

Another new drink, to be featured in Blue Jade - the amazing Pan Asian restaurant in the Ritz Carlton Dubai...

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!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution!  But when Chris, over at A Bar Above  discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most

Fentiman's - part deux

You might already know [otherwise just read my last post ], that Fentiman's Botanical Tonic Water taste great. And I mentioned, that I am not totally convinced of the other flavours... Let me now and here explain why. First to the great ones: Rose Lemonade is really nice... however I have to come across one rose drink, which doesn't taste really good. A couple of years I have reviewed [and tried] Sence - also a drink which is based on Bulgarian roses - and it was lovely. Fentiman's Rose Lemonade is not different - maybe slightly too acidic. Anyway - it is just great [however also very simple to replicate - citric acid, sugar syrup, carbonated water and rose water is all what you need...]. The Curiousity Cola is also nice - it is a bit more standalone and unique as other cola sodas- but hit the right spots. Only problem still is: the original just taste better and - well like the original. Cherrybark Cola - is another good soda. While I've expected it to taste

What is the best cranberry juice in the bar?

A good friend of me "whatsapp'ed" me today and asked for my expertise: "What is the best cranberry juice?" I would loved to just let him know the brand - however it is not that easy. What do we understand of cranberry juice? One of the biggest [maybe the  biggest producer] of cranberry products is Ocean Spray. And: it is well regarded. Problem is: it is not a juice! Wait - what? Ocean Spray doesn't produce a juice - they produce a juice cocktail - which translates into a lot of water, a lot of sugar, some taste-balancers as citric acid [nothing against this really] and a minuscule portion of juice - usually around 3%. Yes they have something which is called 100% juice. Which is on one hand true, on the other the biggest deception ever. Because you don't get 100% cranberry - you get a mixture of juices of concentrate - most of the time apple and white grape and a bit of cranberry. There are also some other brands around, which might feature a h