Ginning up support for a refreshing summer spiritGinning up support for a refreshing summer spirit

Stephen Beaumont

Many cocktails are sultry and seductive creations, arguably best suited to cool nights and dark rooms. But some carefully mixed libations can be perfect for when warm weather arrives, or even on the patio in the blazing sunshine. 


Especially, according to some, when gin is involved.


“Gin is always the first spirit I look to when putting together a summer cocktail list,” said Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager at Portland, Ore.’s Clyde Common. “Our guests have come to appreciate what we do with gin in the warmer months, from big gin punches to delicate gin cocktails.”


The spirit that has been called the original flavored vodka has a light and refreshing character, less intense than whisky but more complex than vodka, that gives it particular warm-weather appeal. 


“Gin is a natural choice for summer given its neutral spirit base and bright flavor profile. The botanicals used in classic London dry gins are very citrus-forward [and] pair beautifully with warm weather,” Morgenthaler said.


This summer suitability is heightened in the new breed of lighter, less juniper-forward gins, Tony Abou-Ganim suggested in his book, “The Modern Mixologist.” Referring to the drink “Pure Joy,” a raspberry-flavored gin fizz he cites as being “at once seductive and refreshing ... an ideal summertime cooler,” Abou-Ganim lauded the “more floral, fruity character” of such gins and commended their refreshing nature.


Mike Mering from The Bedford, a bar in Chicago, concurred. The bar’s “Cucumber Cooler,” made with a light and particularly floral gin, has sold well throughout the summer, success Mering attributed to its “balance of light, bright, fresh and floral flavors.”


“It’s an easy-drinking summer cocktail,” Mering said.


Where gin excels perhaps most of all in the summertime, however, is in tall drinks, when the spirit has an opportunity to assert itself even within an icy and well-diluted cocktail.


“My favorite gin cocktails for summer tend to be what we call long drinks, or drinks served over ice with soda,” said Morgenthaler.


Beyond the basic gin and tonic — which lends itself to any number of different sorts of gin and can be further elevated with quality tonic water — Morgenthaler professed affection for the Tom Collins, typically made with London dry-style gin along with fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and soda. 


Morgenthaler also cited another classic, the French 75, made with gin, champagne, sugar and lemon juice. That “champagne-spiked cousin” of the Tom Collins, he said, is ideally suited not only to summertime drinking, but also to any kind of celebration.