Of all the gin joints

Kerry van der Jagt pulls-up a bar stool to partake in a national obsession.

There are few moments in travel that can't be brightened by a drink in hand, and if that drink is a gin and tonic, better still. Sorry, gin tonic, as I've learnt to say since arriving in Spain. Unlike the rest of the world, where G&Ts are ordered with a sound akin to spitting out lemon pips, Spaniards murmur gin tonic with a smooth and sexy lilt.

I'm in a tiny laneway bar in Oviedo in northern Spain and it's almost midnight as Jose the bartender slides the gin tonic across the counter. The glass is a balloon, as large as a goldfish bowl, with boulders of ice and thin curls of lime bobbing about.

With the first taste there's the rush of juniper, the bite of quinine, the lingering hint of ginger. Glass in hand, I wander to the window and peer out at the late-night revellers walking past, the orange glow of street lamps throwing long shadows across the cobblestones just as the bells off Oviedo cathedral begin to sing.

In recent years, Spain has fallen head over heels for this blend of grain and fizz. The renaissance started in bars such as Bobby Gin in Barcelona and Madrid's Gin Club, moving north to the Basque Country, Asturias and Galicia.

For my second drink Jose hands me a menu, a wish list containing more than 45 varieties, from the locally brewed Gin Mare, with hints of rosemary, thyme, olive oil and basil, to the Prohibition-style Ransom Old Tom Gin. "In Spain we have more than 150 brands of gin," Jose says. Another mind-boggling statistic, in a land best known for cider, sangria and San Miguel, is that Spain is now the world's biggest consumer of premium gin.

After deciding on the French-brewed G'Vine Floraison (€10 [$15]), with elements of cardamom and ginger, my next decision is the "T" component, where tonic flavoured with everything from orange blossom and lavender to geranium and thyme is on offer. Like food and wine matching, the skill lies in knowing which tonic goes with which gin.

Jose suggests a simple, premium tonic will work best with the floral tones of the G'Vine. Some bartenders add a garnish or two, such as a slice of cucumber, a wedge of star anise, a sprinkling of juniper berries or pink peppercorns, but Jose prefers to keep his simple. The next important component is the ice. Not for the Spaniard, small wimpy cubes that melt on first contact, rather humongous, rock-hard boulders, available from any service station across the country.