Tuesday, May 29, 2018

How to Make a Perfect Biscuit

Your Standard Gin and Tonic Deserves a Summertime Upgrade

gin and tonic

Step into a basic liquor store, or a specialty liquor shop, and notice the gin aisle stocked with countless bottle options, from the U.K.’s classic Beefeater to lauded German boutique producer Monkey 47. In the last half decade or so, not only has the gin industry exploded, but bars dedicated to the classically juniper-forward distillate have hit the market, like six-year-old Chicago boutique gin-focused speakeasy Scofflaw, to decorated barman Martin Cate’s Whitechapel in San Francisco, known for its collection of over 600 expressions. And then there’s Atlas in Singapore, which, when the opulent lounge debuted last spring, management touted more than 1,000 gins from around the world. And despite the bar’s youth, it has already landed at spot four on the World’s 50 Best Bars list.

However, there’s one specific gin London-based brand partly responsible for igniting the world’s current gin boom. After traveling around the U.S. in the early 2000s and noting America’s artisan food and drink movement––from craft beer to third wave coffee––longtime friends Sam Galsworthy and Fairfax Hall returned home to London to found a craft gin distillery. “Our challenge was to successfully pursue an appeal against a previous gin act from the 18th century that ensured that any license granted could only be for a pot still that was over 1,800 liters,” explains Galsworthy, who adds that the government instilled the dictum to prevent moonshine operators. After two years of lobbying the government, in 2009 the duo successfully secured London’s first small-batch gin distilling license since the 18th century, and inaugurated the city’s very first boutique gin distillery: Sipsmith. Since then, London has become home to 24 small-batch gin producers.

Below, a classic gin and tonic recipe for all-season imbibing, along with fruit and veggie-forward riffs that highlight this spirit’s floral nature, perfect for summer imbibing.  

A Classic Gin & Tonic

Makes 1

2 ounces Sipsmith London Dry Gin

3-4 ounces Fever Tree tonic water

Fill highball glass with ice. Add gin, then tonic. Stir and add desired garnish.

Suggested Garnishes, according to Sipsmith Master Distiller Jared Brown:

calamansi limes

Manju’s Kitchen

Lime juice and zest: The majority of London Dry Gins have complex palates that feature a prominent array of citrus notes. We find that the addition of lime juice and zest beautifully balances this bouquet of flavors.

Star Anise: Not only is star anise an incredibly versatile spice—it works well in both sweet and savory contexts, and has a bit of a menthol kick to it. But it’s also one of the prettiest. Throw a few in your glass for a gin and tonic that’s pretty as a picture.

Vanilla Pods: Save this one for a special occasion. Vanilla works well with gins that have luscious, buttery mouthfeels, and adds both sweetness and sophistication to a gin and tonic.

Frozen Peaches: What about a garnish that also doubles as a cooling agent (and which won’t lead to over-dilution)? We love swapping out a bit of ice for frozen peach wedges in our summery gin and tonics.

Get Creative

-Will Benedetto of New York’s Trademark Taste + Grind adds gin, charred grapefruit, tonic to his Copa Gin & Tonic.

Shane McKnight and H. Joseph Ehrmann of San Francisco’s Elixir add gin, Top Hat Tonic Syrup, pear brandy, and soda water to their Oaktown Gintonic.

Joseph Lapi of Washington, D.C.’s RPM Italian in adds gin, basil, thyme, lemon, Fever Tree Natural Tonic water to his R Gin & Tonic.

– Pauly Graves of Chicago’s Gemini adds gin, Chareau Aloe liquer, cucumber, and basil to his Aloe Gin Slim.



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Can Chewing Gum While Walking Help You Burn Calories?

Good news for super-coordinated people everywhere. A new study claims that chewing gum while exercising increases heart rate in both men and women, and even burns a higher amount calories (for men at least). The research was published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science.

Here’s how the study worked. Scientists at Waseda University in Tokyo studied two groups of 46 men and women between the ages of 21 and 69. One group chewed two different amounts of gum while walking for 15 minutes at an average pace. The other group ate a powder (which contained the same ingredients as the gum) before going on a walk.

Researchers measured all participants’ heart rates, as well as the distance and pace of their walking. Once all of this data was analyzed, they found heart rates increased significantly for both genders. More calories were burned by men who chewed gum, which was partially accounted for because they tended to walk faster and longer on average.

The scientists who ran the study are currently theorizing that the increase in heart rate is linked to cardiac-locomotor synchronization. Cardiac-locomotor synchronization is a mechanism that synchronizes heart rate and locomotor rhythm. While it might sound highly technical, it actually makes a lot of sense, given the connection between heart health and physical movement.

This may seem like an odd phenomena to study, but it’s actually not the first time research like this has been conducted. Nearly 20 years ago, a 1999 study in the New England Journal of Medicine called “The Energy Expended in Gum Chewing” found that 19 percent of subjects burned more calories when chewing sugar-free gum while seated.

This is good news for the  17,474 Americans who identify as habitual gum chewers. However while gum can be a great stress reliever, it can also be a source of unnecessary sugar. So unless you’re going sugar-free, be wary of the catch. Otherwise feel free to blow bubbles to your heart’s delight.



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8 Simple & Satisfying Vegetarian Dinners

Vegetarian Dinners

What’s for dinner? The question never stops being asked or needing to be answered!

If you’re a vegetarian, or just really like eating that way often (like I do), it can be especially easy to fall into the same defaults: breakfast-for-dinner, soup, pasta, tacos.

Continue reading "8 Simple & Satisfying Vegetarian Dinners" »



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Homemade Brownie Mix

Homemade Brownie MixGet Recipe!


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