The Gin-uine personality

For the chilled-out

The last vestiges of summer are still here, and this cocktail called Beat the heat is perfect for people who are as cool as a cucumber. "The easy-going and fuss-free nature of this drink suits someone with a chilled-out personality," says Shankar Warli, mixologist at Woodside Inn, Andheri.

Ingredients
Bombay Sapphire gin - 60 ml
Fresh mandarin - 1 slice and half-mandarin peel
Fresh basil leaves - 3
Tonic water - 90 ml
Sweet-and-sour mix sugar syrup and lime juice - 10 ml
Ice cubes - 4 to 5

Method
Take a shaker or tall glass and add all the ingredients in it. Muddle it well, add gin and ice, and shake vigorously. Strain the drink in a whisky glass and top it with 90 ml of tonic water. Serve.

For the outgoing

Some people are like a ray of sunshine who can immediately lighten up your day when you meet them. Southside is a gin drink for them. Beverage firm Diageo-s India brand ambassador Evonne Eadie confirms, "With a pop of citrus and fresh mint, it-s for someone who has a zest for life."

Ingredients
Tanqueray London Dry gin - 60 ml
Fresh lime juice - 30ml
Sugar syrup - 15 ml
Mint leaves - 8

Method
Add all the ingredients to a shaker. Fill the shaker with ice. Shake for 10 seconds. Double-strain the drink into a chilled glass and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint. Southside can be served in a coupe glass, or topped with soda in a highball.

For the adventurous

Curry leaves are meant for, well, curries, right? Wrong. If you-re daring enough, you will even try them in your gin cocktail. "This curry leaf gimlet is for someone who knows what they want, and are out to get it," says Feruzan Billimoria, bartender and brand ambassador for Stranger & Sons.

Feruzan Billimoria

Ingredients
Stranger & Sons gin - 60 ml
Curry leaf cordial - 20 ml
Citric solution - 5 ml
A toasted curry leaf for garnishing

Method
Get a mixing glass full of ice and stir all the ingredients together until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with the toasted curry leaf.

Know your drink?

1 Which country did genever, a drink that-s a precursor to gin, originate in?
2 What is the substance in tonic water that gives it anti-malarial properties?
3 What is -Mother-s ruin-?
4 What is -bathtub gin-?

Answers 1. The Netherlands 2. Quinine 3. A moniker given to gin in 18th-century England because of the way it ruined poor people's lives, since it was cheap 4. A type of gin mass-produced in the US during Prohibition, said to be made in bathtubs.

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