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GIN AND TONIC: 150 Years old!
By: Darcy O'Neil
Gin and Tonic old? Maybe by years - but still the drink most associated with summer for many.
Gin is not a spirit that I’ve worked with a lot. Sure, I’ve had a gin martini and a number of gin slings and fizzes, but when I look at my spirit inventory I only have one bottle of gin!
And I call my self a “mixologist”, well actually I don’t like that name, I think bartender works just fine, but that is for another day. Anyway, I have lots of rum and whisky, so why haven’t I looked into gin? Well it could be because gin hasn’t received a lot of attention lately because its attention grabbing sister, vodka, is stealing the lime light. But, that’s still
not a reason because I don’t drink vodka, so it is time to for me to explore the world of gin, and what better way to reintroduce myself to gin than with a Gin and Tonic.
The Gin and Tonic is a highball that seems to meet the classic definition of a cocktail, in a loosely defined way. A cocktail in the 1800's was the combination of a spirit, sugar and bitters plus a diluent for the weak part. In a Gin and Tonic you have gin, which is obviously the spirit part of the equation, you have the sugar in the tonic water for sweetness, the soda in the tonic water is the weak and the quinine is the bitter. Strong, weak, sweet, and bitter, it looks like a cocktail to me.
The Gin & Tonic is a pleasantly bitter cocktail. The combination of the gin with the tonic almost seems to be a match made before the universe began. The two flavor come together in a way that neither is dominant, assuming the drink is made right. But the two key flavor still need something to bind them together, and that binding agent is lime. Without the lime, the Gin & Tonic seems flat and not as refreshing on a hot summer day.
This drink is so easy to make, so why is it so difficult to get a good one at a bar. Well, because it is so easy, bartenders don’t think about making them, they just whip them up. Now there are a lot of bartenders who make great drinks, but as we all know, there are a lot who don’t. If you want to make a great Gin and Tonic here is what you do.
GIN AND TONIC
How to Make a Gin and Tonic
1. Make sure your tonic water is nice and cold and it wouldn’t hurt to chill your glass
2. Cut a nice fresh wedge of lime (1/6 of a lime, don’t cheap out using an 1/8 or less)
3. Pack your chilled glass full with ice*
4. Pour 1.5 ounces of gin into the glass
5. Top with tonic water
6. Run the peel side of the lime around the rim of the glass
7. Squeeze the lime into the drink and drop it on top of the ice
8. Enjoy
* I generally overfill with ice knowing that once you add the gin and tonic the ice will melt a little and fit into the glass.
As usual, good ingredients will help this drink reach its full potential. Good gin is a fine start. A London dry gin is pretty standard, and the number of manufactures is increasing almost weekly. There are other types of gin, many of them incorporating new flavors such as cucumber, rose petal and assorted herbs and spices. With the increase in variety it's a great opportunity to explore the world of gin and decide what works best for you.
As for the other ingredients, you must use fresh limes, no crunchy old limes or god forbid sour mix. The tonic water is another thing that can very from manufacturer to manufacturer, but 200 years ago tonic water was a few magnitudes stronger than it is today, so if you can find a “boutique” producer of tonic water you might find it makes a better drink.
Anyway, like the Pimm’s Cup, a good Gin and Tonic is a great drink to sip on a hot summer day.
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Drink SpotlightsMany great cocktails have great soirees. Read the history and learn the recipe for great cocktails, including: |
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If these "old" drinks interest you then read about the "first cocktail" - The Sazerac or learn more about another summer classic - Iced Tea - over 100 years old
