i think it's foolish to claim that there is a "best" way to do anything in the cycling world because so much of it comes down to individual riding situations and good old fashioned personal preference. you may indeed find that a 35-40mm tire with lots of grip, good puncture resistance, and low RR at a sensible pressure, is the "best" for your commuting purposes, but i have found just the opposite to be true for me. i used to run big apples at 70psi on my old commuter, and that worked for awhile, but then i got a true road bike and started commuting on it with my rubino pro 23s inflated to 135psi, and it was like a cycling reawakening. there is no way in hell i would ever want to go back to some soft, spongy tire for my daily commute if i don't have to*. i love the feeling of riding on a steel rail. it may be uncomfortable at times, but comfort is for old people; i'm not there yet. also, a HUGE chunk of my daily commute is a smooth as silk MUP where i don't even have to touch the brake levers for 8 miles, so, yeah.



* in winter i do switch back to a much softer, studded snow tire that i run on my winter bike, but that's because i'm forced to because rubino pro 23s at 135psi simply don't work on snow and ice (also, the road bike won't take fenders)