That was the first of many during that trip as we wound our way from Salamanca to Andrés’ home region of Asturias to the north and back to Madrid. I didn’t know then, but with every sip I was growing closer to this country; nine months later, I came back for another round of drinks and never left.
When I tell people that Spain is the best place in the world to drink a gin tonic, a drink created by the British army in India as a defense system against malaria, I’m invariably met with skepticism. “Spain, really?” Really. Don’t come here to drink sangria; it’s universally mediocre no matter where you order it, an excuse to water down cheap wine, saturate it with sugar and charge twice the price. And Spanish beer, while getting better, is still pretty sad stuff.
But “gin tonics” (in Spain, they use the English name, but drop the “and” so that it comes out cleaner) have captured the attention of Spain’s chefs, bartenders and alcoholics alike. I’ve been to culinary conferences where entire sections of the billing are dedicated to the drink: gin tastings, ice cube theory, tonic summits. An auditorium packed to the brim with chefs and journalists, mouths agape as some spirit scientist discusses the best way to reverse spherify gin into clear, edible orbs