Know Your Poisons: Vodka

Quite simply, vodka is a distilled beverage composed primarily of water and ethanol.  The name "vodka" is a diminutive form of the Slavic word voda (water), interpreted as “little water.”  This isn’t an uncommon theme, as the word “whisky” is derived from the Gaelic “uisge beatha” or water of life.

Vodka may be distilled from any starch- or sugar-rich plant matter; most vodka today is produced from grains such as sorghum, corn, rye or wheat. Among grain vodkas, rye and wheat vodkas are generally considered superior. Some vodkas are made from potatoes, molasses, soybeans, grapes, rice, sugar beets and sometimes even byproducts of oil refining or wood pulp processing. That sounds appealing, no?

 In some Central European countries, such as Poland, vodka is sometimes even produced by just fermenting a solution of crystal sugar and yeast. In the European Union there are talks about the standardization of vodka, and the Vodka Belt countries insist that only spirits produced from grains, potato and sugar beet molasses be allowed to be branded as "vodka", following the traditional methods of production.

In the United States, many vodkas are surprisingly made from 95% ethanol produced in large quantities by agricultural-industrial giants Archer Daniels Midland and Midwest Grain Processors. Bottlers purchase the base spirits in bulk, then filter, dilute, distribute and market the end product under a variety of vodka brand names. Think about that a minute. The stuff you’re paying top-dollar for because some rapper held up a bottle of it in a video might have started off as the same stuff they make that crappy gasoline from that’s 30 cents a gallon cheaper but destroys your engine over time. Buyer beware.

I like how the 85% ethanol is at a minimum 70% ethanol. WTF?

Vodka is the chameleon of spirits and blends seamlessly with just about anything. This is no accident, friends. While there are no universal rules for producing the spirit, the final product is supposed to be colorless, odorless and tasteless. With that said, vodka isn’t completely neutral, and a number of distillers actually leave in a good amount of flavor. (The best way to taste these subtle differences is to drink vodka neat at room temperature.) Unlike Scotches and cognacs, which are made in pot stills, vodka is usually produced in a high-volume, continuous column still. After distillation, the spirit is filtered to remove any remaining impurities and congeners. Coal is a traditional filter, but brands today use a range of materials, even including diamonds. Vodka isn’t aged and can be bottled and sold immediately after production. What’s also helping to drive sales in America is the wide range of flavored vodkas now on the market, because God knows we Yanks can’t drink anything without added flavors and sugars in it.

A common property of the vodkas produced in the United States and Europe is the extensive use of filtration prior to any additional processing like the addition of flavorants. Filtering is sometimes done in the still during distillation, as well as afterwards where the distillate is filtered through activated charcoal and other media to absorb trace amounts of congeners that alter or impart off-flavors to the vodka. However, this is not the case in the traditional vodka-producing nations, so many distillers from these countries prefer to use very accurate distillation but minimal filtering, thus preserving the unique flavors and characteristics of their products.

The master distiller is in charge of production and directing the filtration, which includes the removal of the "fore-shots", "heads" and "tails". These components of the distillate contain flavor compounds such as ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate (heads) as well as the fusel oils (tails) that impact the usually desired clean taste of vodka. Through numerous rounds of distillation, or the use of a fractioning still, the taste is modified and clarity is increased. In contrast, distillery process for liquors such as whiskies and rum allow portions of the "heads" and "tails" to remain, giving them their unique flavors.

Repeated distillation of vodka will make its ethanol level much higher than is acceptable to most end users, whether legislation determines strength limits or not. Depending on the distillation method and the technique of the stillmaster, the final filtered and distilled vodka may have as much as 95–96% ethanol. (Hey, kinda like that stuff I mentioned above.) As such, most vodka is diluted with water prior to bottling.

So yeah, like with any liquors, some of it is lesser-grade and some is considered ultra-premium. If you can get it for ten bucks for a 750ml plastic bottle, it probably isn’t really ready to be drunk neat and is better off as a mixer ingredient. However, I hasten to add that mid-range reasonably-priced vodkas are readily available and those over-the top super-premiums distilled half a dozen times and filtered through diamonds are just a way to part you from your money as you attempt vainly to look like a high-roller at the club.

Whattaya’ mean, Wingman? The more times it’s done, the better, right? I mean, it’s purer and they used diamonds, bro…

Seriously, guys, read between the lines.

The more you distill it the purer it gets. At a certain point is it 95% ethanol….just like the ethanol made in the giant factories and turned into the crap ruining your car engines at 85%. Either way, they have to water it down to make drinkable vodka. And really? Wasting diamonds on filtering alcohol? That’s the vodka equivalent of a tequila worm or a scorpion in the bottle. A marketing gimmick. Diamonds are better served as part of a saw blade or in jewelry. And you know what a diamond started off as? A hunk of coal. Squeezed by tectonic plates for a few million years, it becomes a diamond. Stick to the stuff filtered through charcoal.

If you drink something because a dude who wears sunglasses indoors says so, stop reading and kill yourself now

 

However, if you’re truly one of those concerned about status symbols and looking like a baller (But why the hell are you even reading my advice site if you’re like that?) there’s stuff like Kors Vodka. I’m paraphrasing this from their website because their sentence structure & syntax leads me to believe it wasn’t originally written in English:  “A top-guarded recipe (from a Czar and his brother) that was once considered lost, water from the Italian Alps, diamond-filtered distillation, hand selected grains from 12 countries, and gold distillation tubes make Kors like nothing you have ever tasted. No wonder it is one of the most sought after Vodka drinks on the Planet.”

 Kors is quite simply the most expensive vodka on the market. Pundits say the taste is superb and like nothing you’ve ever tried before (something tells me it tastes like vodka) but it’s the shape of the crystal bottle that makes people turn their heads when you have it on the table. And after all, that’s why you spend half a year’s salary on a bottle of booze; to be looked at like you’re special. 

Half a year’s salary, Wingman?

Well, the Silver Edition, of which only 1250 bottles were made, runs you $12,500. The Gold Edition of 750 bottles goes for $16,500 a bottle. And if you’re really so rich you can wipe your ass with hundreds, the 24K George V Limited Edition of just 250 bottles runs you a mere $24,500 a bottle. Digest THAT morsel a minute...For something that will be urine a couple hours after it passes your lips. 

Less expensive and only slightly less pretentious is elit, the super high-end from Stolichnaya. Ordinarily, Stoli is a reasonably-priced and quality vodka, but this is catering to that Hey Look At Me crowd. The newest elit offering is the Himalayan Edition.  It’s distilled from untainted water collected from a tank over 10,000 feet in the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal’s Langtang National Park, originating from snowmelt and naturally filtered through layers of stone during its journey down the hill. The water is then combined with the purest winter wheat from the Tambov Region of Russia. Limited to just 300 bottles, it comes in hand-blown Bohemian Czech bottles, each sealed with an attractive golden ice pick and supplied in a numbered, hand-carved walnut case. And at just $3,000 a bottle it’s a steal. 

Still too steep? Try Crystal Head vodka, the brain child of none other than Dan Ackroyd, who wanted to drink a vodka made without any additives like sugar, glycerol, or citrus oils.  A product of Newfoundland, Canada, Crystal Head is made with a variety of corn called Peaches & Cream grown in Ontario and after distillation is diluted with Newfoundland glacier water before being filtered seven times. Of course, three of those times is through (of course) diamonds. Because why? Because diamonds, that’s why. Actually, in Ackroyd’s case, the Herkimer diamonds are supposed to impart magical healing qualities. The vodka gets its name from the impressive skull bottle made in Milan by Bruni Glass. A 750 ml bottle is a little more expensive than most of the decent brands but at about 45 bucks, it’s a hell of a lot better than 4 and 5 digits.

Back down here amongst the commoners, you can get outstanding vodkas without breaking the bank. One can never go wrong with the products of Absolut, Smirnoff, and the aforementioned Stoli. One of the finest vodkas I’ve ever tried is from, of all places, Ireland, distilled five times and filtered through ten feet of Irish oak charcoal. I highly recommend Boru vodka; I normally eschew sipping vodka neat and prefer mixers, but this was smoother than smooth, without that characteristic burn of straight alcohol. 

If flavored vodka is to your liking, there are a myriad of flavors to choose from, almost an embarrassment of riches in the number of varieties.  You name the fruit and somebody has added it to vodka. Birthday cake? Yup. Whipped Cream? Cinnamon? Vanilla? Chocolate? Yes, indeed. Chili Pepper? Why not. 

Between Stoli and Absolut they cover damn near every flavor

Seriously, cucumber vodka is quite the rage these days.

Locally here in South Carolina, Firefly has made a name for itself with Sweet Tea vodka featuring tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation, and has started making a vodka from native muscadine grapes at their distillery on Wadamalaw Island.

Need something more exotic? There’s a rye-based vodka very popular in Poland and Belarus flavored with bison grass, with a piece of the grass in the bottle. Of course there’s bacon vodka. Why? I dunno; it’s bacon. Does there ever really have to be a reason for bacon?

Of course, with so many vodkas being virtually equal, some distillers go out of their way with unsusual packaging to make theirs stand out even from the ones previously discussed.

The flat rectangle approach

 

Why not use a cylinder?

The bottle itself is artwork

The clever vodka log

The cap unscrews to become a shotglass in this Scottish vodka

Ed Hardy will fucking put a tattoo drawing on anything.

The artillery shell in an ammo box, with shotglasses

But Wingman, whatever shall we do with all this great and grand supply of vodka out there?

Oh, young tadpoles, the number of cocktails made with vodka rivals the number of dollars in the federal defecit. Here are but a few to get you started.

The Classic Vodka Martini

2 ounces vodka

3/4 ounce dry vermouth

2 dashes bitters (optional)

Lemon twist or 3 olives for garnish

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake well.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist or olives.

Now, there are umpteen million variations on the martini. Most of these start with a sweet flavor and end with –tini, like the appletini, pomtini, or chocolatini. Not all of these are “chick drinks”, mind you, and many serve as a nice dessert cocktail. Mostly though, they work as a great refresher on a hot summer night.

The Ultimate Pear Martini

1 ounce vodka

1 ounce pear vodka

1 ounce pear nectar

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

 1/4 ounce agave nectar

Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and shake for 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a Chilean baby Pear.

 

This is my buddy Peter, who will be adding some articles here in the future, rocking a pear martini in NYC.

Another classic vodka cocktail is the Screwdriver, along with its cousins the Greyhound/Salty Dog, and Cape Codder. Vodka and orange juice, grapefruit juice, and cranberry juice. Your Wingman is quite partial to vodka and cran. 

Main Squeeze Cocktail (based on the classic Screwdriver)

2 ounces Orange Vodka

1/2 ounce Triple sec

2 ounces Fresh orange juice

Club soda

Add all the ingredients except the club soda to a tall glass and fill with ice.  Fill with club soda and stir. Garnish with an orange wheel

Since your Wingman operates out of the state of South Carolina, I feel the need to add a couple recipes from my local distillery. 

Blueberry Firefly 

1 ounce Firefly Sweet Tea vodka

2 ounces blueberry simple syrup (recipe below)

Freshly-brewed sweet tea, and not that powdered shit, either. Keep it real.

2-4 fresh mint leaves

Ice

Make blueberry simple syrup by bringing one cup of water and one cup of sugar to a boil over medium high heat. Add a 1/2 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen) until they are soft. Use a spoon to mash them a bit. Strain out the blueberries and discard. Or save them for a smoothie.

Once the simple syrup is cool, mix the syrup and vodka over ice in a highball glass.  Fill the rest of the glass with sweet tea and garnish with mint leaves.

Firefly Cider

2 1/2 ounces Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

2 ½ ounces Fireball Cinnamon Whisky

1 ounce Apple liqueur (I highly recommend Berentzen Apfelkorn)

Splash of soda

Mix over ice in a highball glass and stir. Garnish with an apple slice if desired.

Harvest Highball

1 ½ ounces lemon vodka

½ ounce lime juice

½ ounce simple syrup

2 ounces ginger beer

Add all the ingredients except the ginger beer to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake well and strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice. Top with the ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.

Cucumber Mojito

2 ounces cucumber vodka

1 ounce fresh lime juice

2 tsp sugar

6 mint leaves

Muddle mint leaves, sugar, and lime juice in a Collins glass. Fill with ice and add vodka. Top off with soda water. Stir lightly and garnish with a cucumber wedge.

The Cosmopolitan

1/2 ounce lemon vodka

1 ounce triple sec

½ ounce fresh lime juice

1 dash cranberry juice

Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with a lime wedge.

And since everything in the universe seems to revolve around bacon…

The Shrimp and Bacon Bloody Mary

1½ oz. Bacon Vodka in a pint glass filled with ice.

Fill glass with tomato juice

1 dash each of celery salt and ground black pepper

2-4 dashes each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco

Shake and pour into an Old Bay-rimmed (optional) glass. Garnish with a celery stalk, a slice of thick-cut crispy bacon, and a chilled shrimp.

 So there you go, my legions. Now you're all vodka experts. Go forth and experience the Little Water, and do it responsibly. Who's got your back? I do.

Know Your Poisons: Gin

Ah, gin; that delicious clear spirit flavored with juniper berries and botanicals. The neutral spirit base of gin is primarily grain (usually wheat or rye), which results in a light-bodied spirit perfectly amenable to the addition of varied herbs and spices.

The Dutch physician Franciscus Sylvius is often credited with the invention of gin in the mid 17th century, although the existence of its predecessor, a beverage called genever, is confirmed as early as 1623, when Dr. Sylvius would have been but nine years of age. It is further claimed that British soldiers who provided support in Antwerp against the Spanish in 1585, during the Eighty Years' War for Dutch independence, were already drinking genever for its calming effects before battle, from which the term Dutch Courage is believed to have originated.

Genever is made primarily from "malt wine" (a mixture of malted barley, wheat, corn, and rye), which produces a fuller-bodied spirit similar to raw malt whiskey. A small number of genevers in Holland and Belgium are distilled directly from fermented juniper berries, producing a particularly intensely flavored spirit.

The chief flavoring agent in both gin and genever is the highly aromatic blue-green berry of the juniper, a low-slung evergreen bush that is commercially grown in northern Italy, Croatia, the United States and Canada. Additional botanicals can include anise, angelica root, cinnamon, orange peel, coriander, and cassia bark. All gin makers have their own secret combination of botanicals, the number of which can range from as few as four to as many as fifteen.

By the mid 17th century, numerous small Dutch distillers (some 400 in Amsterdam alone by 1663) had popularized the re-distillation of malt spirit or malt wine with juniper, anise, caraway, coriander, etc., which were sold in pharmacies and used to treat such medical problems as kidney ailments, lumbago, stomach ailments, gallstones, and gout. Gin emerged in England in varying forms as of the early 17th century, and at the time of the Restoration, enjoyed a brief resurgence. 

When William of Orange, ruler of the Dutch Republic, occupied the British throne with his wife Mary in what has become known as the Glorious Revolution in 1689, gin became vastly more popular, particularly in crude, inferior forms, where it was more likely to be flavored with turpentine as an alternative to juniper. 

Whoa, Wingman. Turpentine?

Seriously, turpentine. 

"There was a good chance in the 18th Century that the gins being drunk in London were genever-style," says Gary Regan, author of the Bartender's Gin Compendium. "A lot of it was probably really terrible. People were distilling in their houses."

Of course, the genever being drunk by William III and his successors was not easy to replicate in a bathtub in a basement.(You’ve heard the term “bathtub gin”?) The eager entrepreneurs reached for just about any additive they could in an effort to make the drink even vaguely palatable. Hence, turpentine, to generate resinous woody notes in addition to the juniper. Ugh.

Another common variation was to distil in the presence of sulfuric acid. Although the acid itself does not distil, it imparts the additional aroma of diethyl ether to the resulting gin. Sulfuric acid subtracts one water molecule from two ethanol molecules to create diethyl ether, which also forms an azeotrope with ethanol, and therefore distils with it. The result is a sweeter spirit, and one that may have possessed additional analgesic/intoxicating effects.

Gin drinking in England rose significantly after the Government allowed unlicensed gin production and at the same time imposed a heavy duty on all imported spirits. This created a market for poor-quality grain that was unfit for brewing beer, and thousands of gin-shops sprang up throughout England, a period known as the Gin Craze. Because of the relative price of gin, when compared with other drinks available at the same time and in the same geographic location, gin began to be consumed regularly by the poor who aspired to drink like the King. 

Of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London, not including coffee shops and cafes, over half were gin shops. Beer maintained a healthy reputation as it was often safer to drink the brewed ale than unclean plain water. Gin, though, was blamed for various social problems, and it may have been a factor in the higher death rates which stabilized London's previously growing population. Seriously, guys; gin was the crack cocaine or crystal meth of its day. The reputation of gin was illustrated by William Hogarth in his engravings Beer Street and Gin Lane (1751), described by the BBC as "arguably the most potent anti-drug poster ever conceived." The negative reputation of gin survives today in the English language, in terms like "gin mills" or the American phrase "gin joints" to describe disreputable bars or "gin-soaked" to refer to drunks, and in the phrase "mother's ruin", a common British name for gin.

Some of the points illustrated in the Hogarth Gin Lane engraving:

The Hanged Man: A barber has taken his life in the attic of his own house; his death is unnoticed by the drunken mass of people below.

The Pawnbroker: The pawnbroker’s sign hangs symbolically over the spire of St George’s Church in Bloomsbury. Below it, the bewigged pawnbroker is a rare prosperous person.

Impaled baby: A man with a child impaled on a spike hits himself over the head with a pair of bellows while a distraught woman chases him.

Baby fed gin: On the left a woman feeds gin to a man in a wheelbarrow while on the right a baby receives the same treatment.

Syphilis sores: The bare-breasted woman, who has dropped her baby, has syphilis sores on her legs.

The Pamphlet Seller: The pamphlet seller, warning of the dangers of drink, appears to have died of starvation, but still has an emptied cup.

Drunk for a penny: The cellar sign says: Drunk for a penny, Dead drunk for twopence, Clean straw for nothing. This symbolizes the underground nature of so many gin houses and how one could drink cheaply in large quantity.

The Gin Act 1736 imposed high taxes on retailers and led to riots in the streets. The prohibitive duty was gradually reduced and finally abolished in 1742. The Gin Act 1751 was more successful, however; It forced distillers to sell only to licensed retailers and brought gin shops under the jurisdiction of local magistrates. Gin in the 18th century was produced in pot stills, and was somewhat sweeter than the London gin known today. Need a refresher on pot stills and column stills? Go here.

Most Gin is initially distilled in column stills. The resulting spirit is high-proof, light-bodied, and clean with a minimal amount of congeners and flavoring agents. Genever is distilled in  pot stills, which results in a lower-proof, more flavorful spirit.

Low-quality "compound" gins are made by simply mixing the base spirit with juniper and botanical extracts. Mass-market gins are produced by soaking juniper berries and botanicals in the base spirit and then redistilling the mixture.

Top-quality gins are flavored in a unique manner. After one or more distillations the base spirit is redistilled one last time. During this final distillation the alcohol vapor wafts through a chamber in which the dried juniper berries and botanicals are suspended. The vapor gently extracts aromatic and flavoring oils and compounds from the berries and spices as it travels through the chamber on its way to the condenser. The resulting flavored spirit has a noticeable degree of complexity.

Tanqueray Rangpur, made with rare Rangpur limes from India

Classifications of Gin

London Dry Gin is the dominant English style of gin. As a style it lends itself particularly well to mixing. London Dry Gin is the dominant Gin style in the United Kingdom, former British colonies, the United States, and Spain.

Plymouth Gin is relatively full-bodied (when compared to London Dry Gin). It is clear, slightly fruity, and very aromatic. Originally the local Gin style of the English Channel port of Plymouth, modern Plymouth Gin is nowadays made only by one distillery in Plymouth, Coates & Co., which also controls the right to the term Plymouth Gin.

Old Tom Gin is the last remaining example of the original lightly sweetened gins that were so popular in 18th-century England. The name comes from what may be the first example of a beverage vending machine. In the 1700s some pubs in England would have a wooden plaque shaped like a black cat (an "Old Tom") mounted on the outside wall. Thirsty passersby would deposit a penny in the cat’s mouth and place their lips around a small tube between the cat’s paws. The bartender inside would then pour a shot of gin through the tube and into the customer’s waiting mouth. Until fairly recently limited quantities of Old Tom-style Gin were still being made by a few British distillers, but they were, at best, curiosity items. Noted high-end gin maker Tanqueray recently introduced their own Old Tom.

Genever (or Hollands) is the Dutch style of gin, distilled from a malted grain mash similar to that used for whisky. Oude ("old") Genever is the original style. It is straw-hued, relatively sweet and aromatic. Jonge ("young") Genever has a drier palate and lighter body. Some genevers are aged for one to three years in oak casks. Genevers tend to be lower proof than English gins (72-80 proof or 36-40% ABV is typical). They are traditionally sold in a cylindrical stoneware crock and usually served straight up and chilled. The classic accompaniment to a shot of Genever is a dried green herring. Genever-style gins are produced in Holland, Belgium, and Germany.

Mmmmmmmmm, botanicals

Many people don’t like the taste of gin due to the juniper. I guess it’s an acquired taste for some, and I must have acquired it quickly, because lads, your Wingman very much enjoys his gin and tonics. It was actually my first adult cocktail choice. I’d just been posted to Germany in the Army, and I wasn’t even a month past my 19^th birthday. I went to a club with a guy from my platoon, and he went to the bar & returned with a pair of G&T’s. I loved it from the first sip. Crisp, light, refreshing, with an interesting bite. I felt like a sophisticated grownup manly man with a cool-ass cocktail without the harshness of a martini. My own personal tastes demand that I make cocktails with a mixer of juice or soda instead of just straight alcohol. Your tastes might be different.  And another kick-ass property of a G&T? It glows in the dark under a black light. In my club days that was awesome.

The Gin and Tonic is just as timeless a classic as the Martini. The cocktail was introduced by the British army in India. In India and other tropical regions, malaria was a persistent problem.

In the 17th century, the Spanish had discovered that indigenous peoples in what is now Peru used a kind of bark to address various “fevers.” Stripped from the cinchona tree, the bark seemed to work well for malaria. The “Jesuit’s bark,” as it was known, quickly became a favored treatment for malaria in Europe. Eventually it became clear that cinchona bark could be used not only to treat malaria, but also to prevent it. The bark—and its active ingredient, quinine powder—was a powerful medicine. 

In the 1700s it was discovered that quinine could be used to prevent and treat malaria, although the bitter taste was unpleasant. British officers in India in the early 19th century took to adding a mixture of water, sugar, lime and gin to the quinine in order to make the drink more palatable. Soldiers in India were already given a gin ration, and the sweet concoction made sense. Since it is no longer used as an antimalarial, tonic water today contains much less quinine, is usually sweetened, and is consequently much less bitter. No less an authority on imperial power than Winston Churchill once declared, “The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen’s lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.”

The Perfect Gin and Tonic

4 to 5 tonic water ice cubes

3 ounces gin

4 ounces tonic water

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Lime wedge for garnish

Place the ice cubes in a tall, narrow, chilled glass (the cubes should come near the top.) Add the gin, then the tonic water, then the lime juice, stirring well. Garnish with lime wedge, and serve immediately.

Note: To make the ice cubes, simply fill an empty ice cube tray with tonic water, and let the cubes freeze. It takes just a few hours.

The Classic Dry Gin Martini

2 ounces dry gin

1 ounce dry vermouth

Ice

Olives or a twist of lemon, for garnish

If you prefer a martini with only vodka and the barest suggestion of vermouth, avert your eyes. Assertive gin and a healthy dose of vermouth mix here for a smooth version of the classic. If an olive takes up too much room in your cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon twist.

Place a cocktail glass in the freezer to chill.

Combine the gin and vermouth in a shaker, fill it halfway with ice, and stir vigorously until well chilled, about 20 seconds. Strain into the chilled glass. Garnish with either olives or a twist of lemon. (If using a twist, be sure to run the slice over the glass’s rim.)

The Joy Division

2 oz  London Dry Gin

1 oz Dry Vermouth

.5 oz Cointreau

3 dashes Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir, and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

 And I leave you with this quote from the TV show M*A*S*H*, from the first season, (March 18, 1973 episode #23 "Ceasefrire".)  "I'll stick with gin. Champagne is just ginger ale that knows somebody."-- Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce

Who's got your back? I do.

UPDATE 6-13-2015: The Wall Street Journal just released THIS ARTICLE about upgrading your gin and tonic with some new recipes and drink suggestions.