The Gin and Tonic has a bad rap. For too long, the Gin and Tonic has been maligned as “that cocktail your grandmother pours ever day at 4pm.” Not exactly what the kids have been sipping. It wasn’t until recently when we saw an explosion of options that has led to the re-popularization of the Gin and Tonic.
The G&T has been ripped from the jaws of obscurity and is now firmly back into the pantheon of great cocktails. There are a lot of reasons why you should be knocking back G&Ts. I’ll give you 3 of the best right here!
There have been good gins since the dawn of the spirit, but most of them haven’t been readily available to the public, nor was the public interested in them. When your grandmother reached for a gin, it was probably so juniper forward, it gave you flash backs of Christmas trees.
Thankfully, gin has experienced an absolute renaissance. It is being produced all around the world and there is a gin for every drinker. There are gins distilled from honey. Japanese gins that incorporate regional citrus, herbs, and flowers. And even Irish gins that are aromatized with local botanicals that were foraged by the distiller. The best part about a good gin? It’s relatively inexpensive.
Gins you should take a look at:
- Nikka Gin made in Japan.
- Barr Hill distilled in New Hampshire from honey.
- Glendalough Wild Botanical gin distilled in Ireland.
Just like gin, when your grandmother reached for tonic, she probably grabbed something out of a plastic bottle that had over 30 grams of sugar per serving. Not only that, but the tonic water would lose its carbonation within 10 min of opening the bottle.
Thankfully, the tonic industry got turned on its head some 10-15 years ago by some tonic pioneers. We now have our pick between a number of great, well made tonics that would bomb you out with sugar. The best part is your drink will stay carbonated all until the last sip.
It will be crisp, fresh, and leave you completely satisfied. Remember, be sure to refrigerate your tonic. The colder it is, the longer your carbonation with will last!
Tonics you should take a look at:
- Q Tonic out of New York
- Fever Tree out of England
The glass. I am putting these two together. We have learned a lot about carbonation over the last 15 years. We know that the colder your beverage is, the longer the carbonation with last, and the more satisfying your drink will be. Keeping your tonic cold is important.
What is also important is chilling your glass! If you introduce cold tonic to a warm glass, your drink with flatten much quicker. Keep a couple Collins glasses in the freezer to keep them ultra-chilled.
Collins Glasses you should take a look at:
- Stolzle. Cheap and fairly well made. Easy to find.
Last but not least comes the hardest part of making the perfect, modern G&T: the ice. Clear is amazing because it won’t mess with the flavor of your G&T. When regular ice freezes, you are left with a bunchof air, dust, and food particles trapped it the ice.
With clear ice, all that junk gets pushed out by a process called “directional freezing.” Not only that, but clear ice usually comes in one large chunk, which means its going to melt a lot slower than regular ice. Less melting, the less watered down your drink will be.
I would go into a million steps on how to make, proper, clear ice, but I guess I just let a video to the talking. Click here to see my viral tiktok, and make sure you give me a follow! You now have all the steps require to reclaim the Gin and Tonic and appreciate it for the wondrous cocktail that it is. Go forth, drink, and be merry!
