Idyllic summer nights in Brooklyn leave little to be desired–unless you’re Q Tonic founder Jordan Silbert, that is. The gin and tonic lover discovered that the tonic water he was drinking four summer ago was chock full of artificial flavors and high fructose corn syrup, and in the name of not standing up for something so undignified, he set out to create a crisper tonic. After pulling together quinine from South America, organic agave and lovingly designed floral-inspired glass bottles, Silbert’s concoction can now be found at Gramercy Tavern and the Four Seasons in New York and NOPA in San Francisco. “One of the things that excites me most about Q Tonic is that it enables you to actually taste the difference between and gin and tonic made with different gins–a gin and tonic made with Plymouth and Q Tonic tastes very different than a G&T with Hendricks and Q Tonic,” says the drink maker, who slaved over the recipe in his Brooklyn kitchen for more than a few seasons. “Unlike when you use mass produced tonic waters, you can actually taste the different botanicals that make different gins great in their different ways.”

I’m totally feeling the luxe behind Stussy’s Deluxe line of slick accessories, where black makes an important play. The spotlight of the collection is the bags — a backpack and a messenger — in nylon accented with shiny, full-grain patent leather.  However, the bona fide Deluxe Flask, chrome that’s been wrapped in leather, takes the prize. I can’t see a better way of carrying my favorite liquor around. Yeah, the economy sucks, fists are getting super tight, but this is the stuff that keeps inspiration flowing.

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