There is still plenty of summer left. Labor Day is still over a week away and the first day of fall is another two weeks on from there. Judging from this probable hottest summer on record we are currently experiencing (one I try not to complain about, knowing that I’d rather be too hot than too cold any day), I expect the heat to linger well into October in Alabama.

On a really hot day, I find that an icy cold gin and tonic comes to mind and over the years I have managed to fine-tune one that always seems to please. The basics are simple – gin, tonic, and a splash of lime – and that will always suffice. And I won’t tamper with the essentials. But I find that my enhancements that have evolved over the years make my gin and tonic something people seem to like.

To be clear, I am not reimagining or deconstructing the humble G&T. I remember my irritation years ago when Garden & Gun featured a cherry-colored sno-ball looking thing on its cover and referred to it as a mint julep, the invention of some New York bartender, who called it a “Concord Grape Mint Julep.” I wrote a snarky letter to the editor, saying that it was undeniably pretty and probably tasted quite good but that it was most certainly not a mint julep. They published my letter under the snarky title “Julep Police.” At least it was pictured in a julep cup.

So I’m not messing with the classic gin and tonic. But I have some suggestions to brighten it and give it a little intrigue (I am frequently asked what my secret is).

First, I don’t garnish it with a lime slice; garnish often seems to get in the way, don’t you think? Instead, I slice a whole thin round of lime and put it in the bottom of the glass before I add the ice. I imagine that the weight of the ice begins to release more of the lime juice. Then I fill the glass with ice.

Now that the glass is ready, pour two tablespoons of Rose’s Lime Juice into the glass. I was in a place in New Orleans once and ordered a G&T. When I asked the bartender to put a splash of Rose’s in it, she looked at me like I had offended her and told me they didn’t have Rose’s. It was one of those bars with jars of fermented stuff all over the place that prided itself on its unique concoctions and I realized that she had taken my request as that of a rube. Anyway, if I make your gin and tonic, it’s going to have a generous splash of Rose’s in it.

Here’s the most controversial part of my mix: I put a whole Bing cherry in the glass. I don’t add any extra syrup from the jar – just the cherry. I put it in and let it sit there and just do what it does. Until I tell people, they usually don’t realize there’s a cherry in there somewhere. The friend who introduced me to the cherry trick feels that it takes a bit of the bite out of the mix without adding a sweet cherry flavor. I think of it as a lagniappe to be enjoyed at the end.

Pour two ounces of Hendrick’s gin over the ice and the Rose’s. Top the glass with Fever Tree tonic (I find that the 5 oz. cans of Fever-Tree Premium Tonic Water are just the right size), squeeze some of the lime over the top, stir, and you have a classic gin and tonic that makes people ask what makes it so elevated.

At home, I serve the drink in a tumbler from the Uncorked Glass Company of Atlanta. They take used wine bottles and cut them down into the perfect-sized tumbler (with a dimple in the bottom).

Sip it outdoors on a sultry summer day and the temperature seems to drop a few degrees.

Here’s the recipe again:

2oz. Hendrick’s gin

2 tbsp. Rose’s Lime Juice

5 oz. Fever-Tree Premium Tonic Water

1 round lime slice (and fresh lime to squeeze on top)

1 Bing cherry

1. Put lime slice in bottom of the glass.
2. Fill glass with ice.
3. Pour 2 tablespoons of Rose’s over ice.
4. Put 1 Bing cherry in glass with ice.
5. Pour 2 ounces Hendrick’s over ice.
6. Fill glass with Fever-Tree tonic.
7. Squeeze lime on top and stir.

And thanks to the friend who called this “the best gin and tonic” she’d ever had and inspired me to share the recipe. Happy Summer. Enjoy the rest of it.