Gin and Juice: Dry Fly’s oude genévrier and the Gin Buck

I’m not the biggest fan of gin the world has ever seen, but I’ve been known to take it up on occasion. Not in the form of a martini of course, I like vodka a lot more for that drink. But a gin and tonic on a hot summer day can be appealing too.

My wife, however, does not enjoy gin at all. So when I picked up a bottle of Dry Fly’s gin, I figured I’d be sipping on that bottle for a long time. Unfortunately for me, I happened to find a new cocktail I hadn’t tried, and when my wife tasted it, she fell in love.

Made with Eastern Washington soft winter wheat, the obligatory juniper berries as well as dried Washington apples, mint and hops, Dry Fly’s gin is impeccably clear, dry and very tasty. Some gins are too ginny, which means they have an overabundance of medicinal tastes. What I really enjoyed about Dry Fly’s gin was it’s subtlety and strong lines. The flavor carries back over the tongue and spreads out to reveal some of the mellower aspects of the drink, like the dried apple, mint and hops.

I don’t know too many people who drink gin straight up, but if you were to enjoy a good gin with a little soda or tonic water, this would be the gin you’d want to be drinking.

After tasting the gin neat, I was nearly out the door to pick up some tonic water and limes when I stumbled across a recipe for a drink called a Gin Buck. Happening to have all the ingredients, I mixed up the drink and was astounded at how great it tasted.

A Gin Buck is essentially a shot of gin and some fresh-squeezed lemon juice topped off with ginger ale. I used a good sugar-free ginger ale from the health-food store that I really enjoy, and I think it has more ginger bite to it.

One person described the combination of ginger ale and gin as “going together like basil and tomatoes.” I think that’s a pretty apt description. Fruity without being overly sweet, the combination of juniper’s medicinal taste with ginger ale’s spicy pepper really works in this forgotten cocktail.

We enjoyed a couple gin bucks over the weekend, and my wife pretty much lost her fear of gin.

You can find Dry Fly gin at fine liquor stores around the country as well as at Grizzly Liquor in Missoula.

Enjoy,

GG