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# Dan Dunn: Bombay Sapphire is the gin to reach for in a gin and tonic
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-imbiber-20050325/
- Published: 2005-03-25T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T23:44:45.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

The author Roy Blount Jr. once wrote “A good heavy book holds you down. It’s an anchor that keeps you from getting up and having another gin and tonic.” These days your Imbiber doesn’t keep literature around the house, save for a few leaflets containing on-line betting tips. Though once a bibliophile who reveled in everything from Blount Jr. to Emily Bronte (heck, all the Brontes for that matter), I now find that reading detracts from more meaningful endeavors such as mixing gin and tonics, for instance.

When I do, I usually do so with Bombay Sapphire — the magnum opus of gins. It’s often said gin is essentially vodka flavored with berries and assorted other herbs and spices, but that comparison should in no way impugn the distinct character of this stately spirit, which has long been the central ingredient of that most celebrated cocktail, the martini. Bombay Sapphire is a London dry gin, a category noted for its smooth taste (the other major gin types, German and Dutch, are much bolder/harsher and not readily available in the U.S.). Inside Sapphire’s distinctive translucent blue bottle is a gin begotten from a combination of 10 botanicals — Spanish almonds and licorice roots from China among them — distilled using a special process called vapor infusion that requires the grain neutral spirit be distilled alone (rather than boiled with the botanicals) then passed through a copper basket containing the other ingredients. It sounds like an arduous process, I know, but trust me, it’s nothing compared to trying to make heads or tails of “Wuthering Heights” without Cliff’s notes.

OK then, let’s have a drink, shall we? I suggest one of the following: The Bronx ■ 2 shots Bombay Sapphire ■ 1 shot dry vermouth ■ 1 shot rosso vermouth ■ 1 shot orange juice ■ Cherry on a cocktail stick for garnish Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass.

The Royal Sapphire ■ 2 shots Bombay Sapphire ■ 4 shots lemonade ■ 4 shots cranberry juice ■ Lime wedge for garnish Pour gin, lemonade and finally cranberry juice into an ice-filled highball glass and stir. Rim the glass with the lime, squeeze and drop it in. (E-mail questions, comments or suggestions for the Imbiber to)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 25, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032505.pdf?ref=smdp.com)