The tinkle of ice. The scent of fresh-cut lime and the cool, bittersweet, tongue-tickling effervescence of that first sip. A perfectly seamless blend of crisp, junipery gin and thirst-quenchingly zesty tonic water, it's no wonder the Gin and Tonic is one of the most perennially popular patio drinks.
THE STORY
In the beginning, it was all just medicine. Hoping to ward off malaria, British troops in India in the early 1800s took to drinking water mixed with the ground-up, quinine-laden bark of the cinchona tree. To make this intensely bitter concoction more palatable, the men added sugar, then fancied things up with soda water. Before long, they were adding gin. The troops brought their delicious new cocktail-hour discovery back home to England with them, but the Gin and Tonic didn't really take off in North America until the 1930s, after Prohibition, when commercially bottled tonic waters first hit the shelves.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT GIN
Your favorite gin for a Martini won't necessarily be your best choice for a G & T. While many of the newer, more botanically nuanced gins really shine when mixed with a splash of dry vermouth, their subtle flavors can get overpowered when combined with the assertive zippiness of tonic. For this reason, the classic choice for a Gin and Tonic remains a London dry-style gin. This crisp, bold, junipery category includes the brands Tanqueray, Beefeater, Seagram's, and Gordon's, to name a famous few.
TYPES OF TONIC
I went on a kind of scavenger hunt through the delis, specialty food shops, and supermarkets in my neighborhood to see how many different types of tonic water I could rustle up. (I didn't find Fever Tree or Stirrings and would love to hear readers' opinions on those - as well as any other brands you might have tried.) Here are my tasting notes:
Schweppes
The bitterest of the four, and (judging from the bottle I sampled, anyway) the most effervescent of the group.
Canada Dry
Made by the same company (Dr. Pepper/7Up) as Schweppes, and its label bears an identically worded ingredient list. But I found it to be a little less effervescent and the flavor seemed a little gentler and more dilute.
Seagram's
Sweeter than the others, and a little flatter tasting.
Q
Very dry, crisp, and lemony. Made with premium ingredients (agave nectar instead of the high fructose corn syrup found in the other three), this newer arrival is sold at a premium price ($2.89 at my local grocery for a 6.3-ounce bottle).
Conclusion
At the end of my experiment, I compared a G & T mixed with my favorite of the old-timers, Schweppes, to one mixed with the tony new upstart, Q. While my Schweppes-based drink had that classic, familiar taste I'd always associated with summer, it tasted incredibly sweet next to the Q one - even though it had seemed the most bitter in the group when sampled on its own. For special occasions, Q really does make for a refined - if pricey - G & T.
RATIOS
As often is the case with highball drinks, G & T recipes tend to be loose, allowing for a little free-pouring leeway here and there. I took a quick survey of some of the cocktail books I have at home, each written by a well-known mixologist, and found a pretty wide and forgiving spread:
David Wondrich: 6 ounces tonic water, 2-3 ounces gin, lime wedge for garnish
Eric Felton: 4-6 ounces tonic water, 1 1/2 ounces gin, JUICE of half a lime
Gary Regan: 3 ounces tonic water, 2 ounces gin, lime wedge for garnish
Dale Degroff: describes the drink, but doesn't get into measures
This is the way I like mine:
Gin and Tonic
makes one drink2 ounces London dry-style gin (Tanqueray, etc.)
4 ounces tonic water (make sure the bottle's newly opened and hasn't gotten flat)
lime wedge for garnish
2 or 3 large cubes of ice
Pour gin and tonic water into an highball glass. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes and stir gently. Garnish with a lime wedge.
How do you like your Gin and Tonics?
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I'm not sure i've ever measured... ice, gin, tonic, lime (squeezed, but not a whole half). stir. enjoy.
this is kinda mean, though, to have this post at 11am, since now i'm thirsty and have to wait several hours to leave work, go to the gym, and then enjoy a G&T on the porch...
I agree with TDS7 -- it was mean to post this at 11 am. :)
I LOVE Q tonic. It's amazing. I wish it weren't so darned expensive, otherwise it would be my standard tonic. I don't like how sweet the others are. I've had Stirrings, and it was OK but didn't knock my socks off. It wasn't as crisp and dry as Q, so I didn't think it was worth the extra price compared to Schweppes.
My favorite G&T uses Hendrick's gin and a slice of cucumber actually. A delicious gin and a refreshing twist with the cucumber.
No lime. Use lemon. I find that lime is a very American addition. Each time I ordered a G&T in South America or Europe, it defaulted to a lemon. I'm so used to having to order it "with lemon, not lime" that I got a strange look in England once for having to specify.
Check out this article in a blog from the Telegraph.co.uk http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/gerald_warner/blog/2008/06/12/only_lemon_properly_complements_a_gin_and_tonic
i'm very interested in the Q tonic - generally getting things without HFCS is always a good deal... might not get the spendy stuff for a party, but it would be worth it to enjoy a couple of higher quality G&Ts at home with the mrs.
and i could get behind the lemon instead of lime, though i usually have limes and not lemons around the house for margaritas...
This is great. I'm in summer school, have off today, and was already planning on going to the pool right now with one of these. Generally, I do about a 1 to 2 or 3 ratio of gin to tonic. About enough to fill up a rocks glass. I also like mine with extra lime
Ooo, there's a party tonight at a friend's house and it's supposed to be very warm. Perfect. I might need to track down some of that Q tonic now.
Oooh, my favorite!
We usually make our summer afternoon concoctions using canada dry tonic, Hendrick's Gin (the finest Gin known to man...)....and sometimes a splash of Rosewater in the mix. Even just a quick rinse of the glass with rosewater pre-pour gives it a little something special.
A friend changes it up by replacing the lime with pink grapefruit. Ever since, it's the way I make my gin & tonics, too. Delicious!
We did two tonic tastings a while back:
http://marriedwithdinner.com/2007/05/11/dotw-tequila-tonic/
...compared Stirrings and Fever Tree to Schweppes and Canada Dry
http://marriedwithdinner.com/2008/01/04/dotw-granada/
...compared Schweppes Indian Tonic an Q Tonic alongside Fever Tree (winner of round 1)
I was never taught how to make one, so I just made it up. I like lots of ice, so I fill my glass almost to half way. One shooter of gin (hmm not sure how many ounces my glass is), fill the rest with tonic, add 2-3 wedges of lime, one squeezed into the liquid. I let it sit a few minutes, then drink.
i love to add a sprig of mint, it's so summery and refreshing.
I had a black light bday party last year, and served vodka tonics b/c they gloooow. Fun fun. Even had some discarded (and clean) labware to use.
My latest favorite gin drink is a gimlet: just a squeeze of lime into a gin on the rocks. Tonic, lately, just tastes a bit too much for me (I know, ridiculous). I've actually begun to prefer even club soda or sparkling water instead. And if you can find it, there's a new gin on the market called Broker's. Ignore the goofy little bowler hat on top, it's quite smooth, and really fabulous; it's my new go-to mixing gin (why you'd want to sully Hendrick's with anything is beyond me :) ).
http://www.abreadaday.com
yum, extra lime please!
G and T was my grandmother's drink. It was also the first mixed drink I ever ordered (I won't mention how young I was!)
I remember when I was in 2nd grade my mother, grandmother, and I took a road trip up the East coast. We stayed one night in Washington DC in a nice hotel (don't recall which one) that had a rooftop bar. I remember that my mother and grandmother ordered Gin and Tonics and got me a "virgin" tonic water. I slurped my down with gusto. My mother laughed at the agast expression on the patrons at our neighboring table because they thought mine had alcohol, too, and I downed it in just a few seconds!
http://www.margincomments.blogspot.com
Gin and Tonic: it is my most favorite drink. I measure carefully: 6 oz tonic water, 1.5 oz gin (Hendrick's or Tanqueray), healthy squeeze of fresh lime.
Link to Hendrick's Gin (the best gin you ever tasted):
http://www.hendricksgin.com/uk/about/index.asp
Yum. G&Ts taste like summer. Can't wait to get home now!
I don't measure mine. Ice, a few seconds' worth of gin (sometimes enough to cover the ice!), top with tonic.
Been meaning to try with a cucumber, but sadly the cucumber aged before I could get to it. (Hate wasting food!) Have lemons tho so I might try that. : )
I grew up with Plymouth gin, so that will always be my favourite. Hendricks is lovely also though.
You've all forgotten the missing ingredient essential for a *proper* G T - a few dashes of angostura bitters!
measure schmeaure - but Q is really really good tonic
I like mine with Hendricks, Schweppes Tonic Water and a slice of cucumber!
Mmmm...G&T is the best drink EVER! My favorite tonic is Polar. It may be a regional brand (I'm in Philly), and I can only find it at certain stores (Wegmans), but to me it's the best taste and fizz - nice and bubbly and not too sweet. Incendentally, Polar makes the best tasting diet tonic I've ever had.
Ondine, a G&T with bitters is a "pink gin" with tonic, not a proper G&T.
G&T is definitely my go-to weeknight drink. I've never tried Q (would like to) but I have had Stirrings and Fever Tree. Both are good but far better than either, in my opinion, is Fentimans (http://www.drinkfentimans.com/#pi). It might be somewhat hard to find as its a British brand, but if you can get it its worth the effort. Its fantastic. I special order it from a little gourmet shop near me--in addition to being delicious, it comes in little bottles that are the perfect size for two G&T's, so it never goes flat. Its good enough to drink straight--when I gave up alcohol for lent I would just pour of bottle of it over ice with a slice of lime and it was almost like the real thing.
As to gin, my daily is Gordons. Hendricks is excellent, and again if you can find it Junipero is a very good brand--made by Anchor distilling in California.