Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Not Yo' Mama's gin and tonic

Ryan Jones makes lemon work with cucumber

"The gin keeps everything in balance."
"The gin keeps everything in balance."

Co-owner of Pillbox Tavern, Ryan Jones has something preposterous. He’s messed with that bit of perfection known as the gin and tonic. And what he’s come up with — well, it’s not your dad’s gin and tonic — it’s not yo’ mama’s gin and tonic.

Place

Pillbox Tavern

118 W. Plaza Street, Solana Beach

But to those who’d rather pour lemon juice on an open paper cut before they put it in their gin and tonic, Jones says he wants you to hear him out.

Ryan Jones: “We got into our grandmother's liquor cabinet and proceeded to drink her gin."

“When my brother and I were little and visiting our grandmother, who was a big fan of Beefeater Gin,” he explains, “we got into the liquor cabinet and proceeded to drink her gin. It did not go over very well.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The mishap turned Jones off to gin — that is, until Old Harbor Distilling introduced its version.

“It was,” he says, “a complete departure from what I thought of gin in regards to my earlier experience, gins which have that juniper-berry pop.”

As for the name of Jones’s jerry-rigged g&t, he says it honors Old Harbor’s virtues, if only in the childhood breach that long made Jones and gin enemies.

“I was thinking of my grandmother,” he says, “but used ‘Mama,’ because ‘Grandma’ didn’t fit as well with the name.”

In developing the recipe, Jones put Old Harbor up against the usual suspects to make sure he wasn’t fooling himself or his customers.

“I tried the same recipe with Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick’s, Tanqueray,” he says. “No matter. The flavor profile’s completely different.”

Being cucumber-and-cilantro forward, Jones says, the drink made with Old Harbor works better with lemon in his makeover.

“The cucumber shows itself first in the cocktail,” Jones says. “It finishes with a good balance of lemon and spice. The gin keeps everything in balance; everything else complements it.”

Not Yo' Mama's gin and tonic

  • 2 oz. Old Harbor Gin
  • 1 oz. fresh lemon juice
  • 10 slices cucumber
  • ¾ oz. habanero syrup*
  • 2 oz. Fever Tree tonic water

Bruise cucumber with gin in pint glass, add ice and other ingredients, cap with bar-shaker, give one stout shake, transfer contents to another pint glass, garnish with cucumber slice.

*Boil 4 cups water, add 5 (all but 1 deseeded) julienned habaneros, boil 8 minutes, add 3 1/2 cups sugar, boil until dissolved, remove from heat, and let sit for 2 hours before use.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pedicab drivers in downtown San Diego miss the music

New rules have led to 50% drop in business
Next Article

Chunky yellowtail from Alijos Rocks

Imperial Beach Pier thresher shark
"The gin keeps everything in balance."
"The gin keeps everything in balance."

Co-owner of Pillbox Tavern, Ryan Jones has something preposterous. He’s messed with that bit of perfection known as the gin and tonic. And what he’s come up with — well, it’s not your dad’s gin and tonic — it’s not yo’ mama’s gin and tonic.

Place

Pillbox Tavern

118 W. Plaza Street, Solana Beach

But to those who’d rather pour lemon juice on an open paper cut before they put it in their gin and tonic, Jones says he wants you to hear him out.

Ryan Jones: “We got into our grandmother's liquor cabinet and proceeded to drink her gin."

“When my brother and I were little and visiting our grandmother, who was a big fan of Beefeater Gin,” he explains, “we got into the liquor cabinet and proceeded to drink her gin. It did not go over very well.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

The mishap turned Jones off to gin — that is, until Old Harbor Distilling introduced its version.

“It was,” he says, “a complete departure from what I thought of gin in regards to my earlier experience, gins which have that juniper-berry pop.”

As for the name of Jones’s jerry-rigged g&t, he says it honors Old Harbor’s virtues, if only in the childhood breach that long made Jones and gin enemies.

“I was thinking of my grandmother,” he says, “but used ‘Mama,’ because ‘Grandma’ didn’t fit as well with the name.”

In developing the recipe, Jones put Old Harbor up against the usual suspects to make sure he wasn’t fooling himself or his customers.

“I tried the same recipe with Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick’s, Tanqueray,” he says. “No matter. The flavor profile’s completely different.”

Being cucumber-and-cilantro forward, Jones says, the drink made with Old Harbor works better with lemon in his makeover.

“The cucumber shows itself first in the cocktail,” Jones says. “It finishes with a good balance of lemon and spice. The gin keeps everything in balance; everything else complements it.”

Not Yo' Mama's gin and tonic

  • 2 oz. Old Harbor Gin
  • 1 oz. fresh lemon juice
  • 10 slices cucumber
  • ¾ oz. habanero syrup*
  • 2 oz. Fever Tree tonic water

Bruise cucumber with gin in pint glass, add ice and other ingredients, cap with bar-shaker, give one stout shake, transfer contents to another pint glass, garnish with cucumber slice.

*Boil 4 cups water, add 5 (all but 1 deseeded) julienned habaneros, boil 8 minutes, add 3 1/2 cups sugar, boil until dissolved, remove from heat, and let sit for 2 hours before use.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Successor to Lillian Hellman and Carson McCullers

Crossword puzzles need headline
Next Article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader