Gin o'clock in Madrid

According to TimeOut's Shortlist guide to Madrid, Madrid is "currently going mad for gin and tonic". They are not wrong. With every intention of beginning my 5 day jaunt to the Spanish capital exactly how I meant to go on, I arrived at Gatwick South Terminal at 9am on a Monday morning and wasted no time in scouting out the samples in Duty Free, where I was given a rundown of the Chase Distillery's 'Williams Gin'. This I learnt was the latest venture from William Chase who is more famously known as the man behind Tyrrells crisps, who decided to turn his potatoes to vodka and his apples to gin. The result was a delicious cidery gin and a hazy boarding unto the somewhat dubious Ryanair specimen which claimed to possess powers of flight. I was grateful for this shot of Dutch courage, it turned out, as we juddered our way across the French and Spanish troposphere in a sweaty cabin with the garish trademark blue and yellow plastic adorning the interior from head to toe.


On alighting, Tash and I were both in need of a stiff drink, and once we had negotiated the Spanish public transport system and relieved ourselves of our bags in our hostel, we embarked on that exact mission. The first bar we came to, Cafe Central, in Plaza El Angel, was bustling and had a good atmosphere, and a quick glance at the drinks menu told us it was importantly within our budget. This was our first introduction to what would prove to be the overriding gin of choice in Spain, 'Larios', and we soon gathered that 'dos larios combinados' was what we were after. I was delighted to observe that every single drinks menu I scrutinised throughout my trip offered a supplementary 1 euro surcharge for the accompaniment of the illustrious Fever Tree tonic, which the Spanish have clearly latched onto; an awakening which is decidedly tardy in England. Forget the paltry 25ml measures in the UK; in Spain they are much more liberal. The barman imparted a generous glug of gin into a glass with a casual wrist action, and then looked at me questioningly, asking '¿Más?' I gave him a debonairly affirmative response with a 'why not' look, and before I knew it the glass was over half full of gin, and all for the same base price of 5 euros. Ideal. Soon the traumas of flying Ryanair were all behind us and we were tapping our feet on wooden chairs to the jovial sound of live jazz.

From then on our gin experiments were presented to us in a new and unfamiliar vessel: brandy balloons - for gin. We watched in awe and wonder as balloon after balloon received the generous 'hand flick swig' of the gin bottle which cascaded upon a bed of ice cubes and various citrus fruits, and was topped up with a glass bottle of Schweppes. (Student budgets sadly don't allow for the luxury of Fever Tree). Balloon after balloon, we swayed back out onto the Madrilenian pavements into the sunshine and duly sought the nearest patch of grass upon which to recline, recover and philosophise. 


One of our favourite haunts was Dos Gardenias on Calle Santa Maria: you had to know about it, for there is no sign on the door and after going down two flights of stairs, you arrive in a very unlikely but atmospheric, dimly lit bar with vintage velvet sofas and armchairs and a completely chilled vibe. Here we started off with mojitos and then swiftly veered back onto the gin path, where we learnt the Spanish for straw ('pajita'), which we sought in a bid to reach the bottom of our 'balloons'.

An important landmark for us which we had scouted before arriving in Madrid was the self-explanatory 'Gin Club', adjoined to Mercado de la Reina on Gran Via. The restaurant itself was charming, with endless delicious tapas out on display and a lively atmosphere. It took us a while to get across to the waiters that we were actually in search of 'The Gin Club', which is the downstairs part but not signed. It was much quieter down here, but the menu boasted over 30 different types of gin which I had never even heard of: there was no denying this was exactly what it said on the tin, albeit at somewhat un-student-friendly prices..! We opted for the City of London specimen, which undoubtedly surpassed all the other G&T's sampled in other establishments. The winning component was the huge slice of ginger which was implanted with some orange; indescribably refreshing and a winning flavour combination. 

Move over, Sangria: 'la ginebra', or the Spanish translation for the ensemble "un gin tonic", is the latest Castilian craze. 
Too bad I'm going to be spending six months there.