Joke's on me! I have been sustaining a one-man campaign against ubiquitous branding by ordering my drinks generically. Like "Gin and Tonic" instead of "Tanqueray and Tonic" (Soon we'll have to specify the brand of tonic as well).

I know that in my parents' age, you ordered drinks that way. (Or am I imagining it??) Didn't they just say "Scotch and water"??

Anyway, needless to say, the waiter/waitress always asks "which gin" and I say "whatever you like" or "whatever your favorite is" and leave it at that.

Okay, I'll stop I guess. I got hit last weekend with two G&Ts at $20 each and this was at a pan-asian restaurant in Virginia Beach, not the Plaza Hotel. Ouch.

So now I have to specify a brand as I assume everyone else does. Trouble is, I don't really care. If you're drinking straight, you can really tell the difference between good vodka and bad...not so much when it's in a mixed drink.

Anyway, as I said, I'll change. What's a good mid-level gin? All I know is Hendricks. And Bombay Sapphire. I feel like an idiot ordering a drink by brand name though "Bombay Sapphire and Tonic please" Oh. Well. I guess there is Tanqueray..