Ask the Expert

Our gin expert, David T. Smith, is on hand to answer all your juniper-related questions. Tweet us @ginmagazineuk or email editor@gin-mag.com for a chance to feature

I have a load of bottles that have an inch or two of gin left in the bottom. Can I mix them together?

NITA, WATTON

You can definitely combine gins to create an ‘infinity bottle’ or ‘house blend’. This has been popular within the whisky community for many years (Mrs Smith even keeps her Scotch blend in a small cask) and it has gradually been adopted by those gin folk ‘in the know’.

I’d start with dry gins, only as they are easier to blend than sweetened, infused, or fruit gins. By sticking to dry gins, you can follow a pretty simple rule: if you wouldn’t drink it neat, don’t put it in the blend. You might also want to watch out for certain overpowering flavours such as lavender, cardamom, chilli, or smoke.

You can combine gins of different alcoholic strengths or ABVs, but ideally you would include a couple of higher ones (46% ABV or higher), maybe even a bit of navy-strength gin. This helps to compensate for the fact that the remainder at the bottom of a gin bottle will often have lost some of its alcohol through evaporation.

At home, I have a couple of gin blends: a general ‘classic gin’ for everyday use or for trying out new recipes, plus a spiceforward one for Christmas. Eventually, I’d quite like to have a more herbal and a citrus-focused one, too.

What’s the best garnish for a Dry Martini: lemon, olive, or onion? CORY, TOLEDO, OH

A marvellous query and a sure-fire way to start an argument during the cocktail hours of old. A Martini with an onion – pearl onion or cocktail onion – is technically a Gibson. This is simply a Martini with a designated garnish, much like a Gin and Tonic made with both lemon and lime is known as an Evans.

When it comes to lemon, there are a couple of options, although (unlike a G&T) you probably wouldn’t put a whole wedge of fruit in the glass. One option is the take a piece of lemon peel and ‘express’ it over the finished drink; this releases a mist of citrus oil over the glass that settles on the surface. Some like to add the peel to the glass, whilst others find that the oil is enough.

With olives, the big question is whether you use pitted olives or not. Those with the stone or pit in will often be the freshest, largest, and most flavoursome. There is also a question of whether to use stuffed olives. These might be stuffed with garlic, almond, or that little sliver of red pepper, the pimento. Each of these add their own character to the cocktail.

Olives add a slightly oily texture to the cocktail, but – if served from brine – they can also add a delightful salinity that is part-way towards a Dirty Martini.

Why is it less common for gin to be drunk neat? Have you got any suggestions on how to enjoy gin in this way?

HANN, FALMOUTH

This is a funny one, but you’re absolutely right: anyone that has visited a distillery will know the amount of care the best distillers put into the flavour and balance of their gin, so it seems a shame to not at least try it in its unadulterated form. Some of the easiest to enjoy neat are fruit or sloe gins. Being a tad sweeter, they are easier to sip, especially with a cube of ice. Warner’s Rhubarb Gin or Hayman’s Spiced Sloe Gin might be a good starting point – both combine a bright fruit flavour with a strong gin backbone.

Moving on to the London dry gins, I think an accessible gin – and possibly the first that I enjoyed neat – is Plymouth. It has a little sweetness and it’s relatively easy to pick out the botanicals: there’s citrus and the sweet spice of cardamom, as well as zesty coriander and piney juniper. It also has a particularly smooth texture.

If you choose to serve your gin over ice, you can add a little dilution by simply swirling the ice cubes around a bit to encourage them to melt. This results in a drink reminiscent of the once-popular ‘gin and water’ – a serve that was, in some discerning circles more than a century ago, seen as the only way to drink gin by true aficionados.