I always panic when people ask me about my favourite book or perfume or colour or food. What do you like best? Do you prefer heels or flats? Chocolate or vanilla? Lipstick or gloss? I don’t know! Everything!? And what about lip stains, anyway? But there is one question I’m prepared for – I definitely know what mu favourite cocktail is. As you’ve probably guessed, it’s Gin & Tonic.

I admit it’s not a very exciting choice, but as it’s the best, I can live without excitement on this occasion. It tastes great, is difficult to mess up and can be had almost everywhere. Also, due to significant amount of experience, I am able to judge relatively well how many of them I can drink during a given period of time. Which is not something I can say about tequila slammers, for example.

My G&T rules are not very strict, more like guidelines, to quote the classics. My favourite gin is Hendrick’s, but frankly, after the first or second one, everything upwards of Hogarth is absolutely fine. What influences the taste much more than the gin, is the tonic you use. I have tried many fancy tonics, but I still prefer the classic Schweppes to everything else. And even more important than the specific brands of the gin and the tonic: make sure that everything is cold (otherwise you have to add too much ice, diluting the drink) and that the tonic is not flat – smaller bottles are therefore much superior to the big ones.

While a classic is a classic for a reason, I don’t mind a little experimentation. I have tried this cocktail in many, many different ways and have narrowed it down to three, in an attempt to appear only mildly obsessed.

1. Minimal: with cucumber. This is not a very novel version, but as it’s one of my absolute favourites, I simply need to include it. This is the freshest way to enjoy a G&T and there are two options: smashing the cucumber is better for the flavour, adding slices looks nicer – I prefer to cut my cucumber lengthtwise, as I believe it to be more elegant. If you cannot live without citrus in your G&T, add a little lime juice. If cucumber alone is too minimal for you, I find it works nicely with a some elderflower cordial added.

2. Herbal: with rosemary and orange. This combination gives quite a bit of flavour, especially if you squeeze some orange juice to the drink and/or add orange zest. A rosemary sprig will both smell and taste lovely and work with the herbal notes (including rosemary) already present in the gin. If you are feeling really adventurous, you could also add a touch or orange blossom water. I think that tarragon-grapefruit combination might be even better than rosemary-orange, but I have only just had this idea and haven’t tried it out. I suspect you need to bruise the tarragon a bit, to release the aniseed-y flavour of the herb.

3. Floral: with violet liqueur. This one is definitely not for purists, as it is sweeter and, well, more floral than a classic G&T. You can use whatever syrup or liqueur you like, as I happen to be obsessed with violets, I use violet. I cannot give you exact measurements, as this depends on the ingredients you use (and your preferences, of course), but I find I need to add quite a bit to actually taste the flavour. This is not the cocktail for the entire night, I’m pretty sure it will get on your nerves if you consume several glasses of it. But as a welcome drink, this might be just the thing. I might even put a cherry in it.

If you have better ideas, out with them.