Gin: The Manual

Like his earlier book in a similar format, Whisky: The Manual, Broom's new gin guide is an attempt to get his arms—and tastebuds—around an entire class of spirit. He begins by tracing the evolution of distilled juniper from ancient medicine to mass-market moonshine and its global expansion from its Dutch epicenter, also offering a lively guide to the series of booms and panics that have marked its history. Juniper is the only essential note in gin, which has allowed individual manufacturers to stamp their own personality on the drink, in complex and often secret blends of "botanicals"—everything from citrus to spices and poetic florals such as meadowsweet, geranium, and elderflower. For that reason, the core of the book, a listing of 120 gins and gin variants from Europe, America, and beyond, is not a list of the "best." There's simply too much variety, so the drinks are organized into five "flavour camps": Juniper, Citric, Spicy, Floral, and wild-card Uncategorized. The spirits are each rated by how well they mix in four essential combinations: with tonic, with lemonade, as a negroni, and in a martini. Broom offers his choices for the best brands of mixers and his preferred ratios for each blend. At the end of the book, there's a chapter of more elaborate cocktails, but all are intended to showcase the qualities and variety of this king of spirits.