The photo is of a gin & tonic cocktail on my counter. I recently had a friend give me a bunch of produce including several limes. What could I possibly do with limes? The answer: They are the perfect accompaniment to a gin & tonic. Nothing makes it taste better than that squeeze of lime juice. I don’t have cocktails very often and have several bottles of hard liquor that have been in my cabinet for years. What better way to use up that ancient gin bottle except by making gin & tonic cocktails? I’ll admit that the first cocktail I made with two ounces of gin and four ounces of tonic tasted strong to me. So, I’ll put in more tonic or less gin next time. I have another friend who drinks gin & tonics regularly. They are her cocktail of choice. I once visited some people in New Orleans who served gin & tonic cocktails. My mouth dropped open when I watched the wife walk out in the back yard and pick limes off a tree to make the drinks. There is nothing more refreshing than REALLY fresh limes. My mother liked to drink sloe gin fizzes, but that kind of gin is completely different. I digress. Let’s learn more about gin and tonic cocktails.
According to Wikipedia, a gin and tonic is a highball cocktail made with gin and tonic water poured over a large amount of ice. The ratio of gin to tonic varies according to taste, strength of the gin, other drink mixers being added, etc., with most recipes calling for a ratio between 1:1 and 1:3. It is usually garnished with a slice or wedge of lime. To preserve effervescence, the tonic can be poured down a bar spoon. The ice cools the gin, dulling the effect of the alcohol in the mouth and making the drink more pleasant and refreshing to taste.
In some countries e.g., UK, gin and tonic is also marketed pre-mixed in single-serving cans. In the United States, most bars use "soda out of a gun that in no way, shape, or form resembles quinine water," according to bartender Dale DeGroff. To get a real gin and tonic, DeGroff recommends specifying bottled tonic. Alternatively, one can add tonic syrup to soda water.
It is commonly referred to as a G and T in the UK, U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. In some parts of the world, it is called a gin tonic e.g., in Germany, Italy, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey. It is also referred to as "ginto" in Belgium and the Netherlands, and "GT" in Scandinavia.
Garnish
Gin and tonic is traditionally garnished with a slice or wedge of lime, often slightly squeezed into the drink before being placed in the glass. In most parts of the world, lime remains the only usual garnish; however, lemon is often used as an alternative fruit. In the United Kingdom, the use of both lemon and lime together is known as an "Evans." Although the origins of the use of lemons are unknown, their use dates back at least as far as the late 1930s. In addition, lemons are often more readily available and cheaper to purchase than limes. The use of lemon or lime is a debated issue; some leading brands, such as Gordon's, Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire recommend the use of limes in their gins.
History
The cocktail was introduced by the army of the British East India Company in India. In India and other tropical regions, malaria was a persistent problem. In the 1700s, Scottish doctor Georgius Cleghorn studied how quinine — a traditional cure for malaria — could be used to prevent the disease. The quinine was drunk in tonic water but the bitter taste was unpleasant. British officers in India in the early 19th century took to adding a mixture of water, sugar, lime and gin to the quinine in order to make the drink more palatable, thus gin and tonic was born. Soldiers in India were already given a gin ration, and the sweet concoction made sense. Since it is no longer used as an antimalarial, tonic water today contains much less quinine, is usually sweetened and is consequently much less bitter.
Gin and tonic is a popular cocktail during the summer. A 2004 study found that after 12 hours, "considerable quantities — 500 to 1,000 ml — of tonic water may, for a short period of time, lead to quinine plasma levels at the lower limit of therapeutic efficacy and may, in fact, cause transitory suppression of parasites." This method of consumption of quinine was impractical for malaria prophylaxis, as the amount of drug needed "cannot be maintained with even large amounts of tonic." The authors concluded that it is not an effective form of treatment for malaria.
Variations
Mixers can include lime juice, lemon juice, orange juice and spiced simple syrup, grenadine, tea, etc.
Besides the classic lime wheel, garnishes can include, for example, orange peel, star anise, thyme-elderflower, a slice of ginger, pink grapefruit and rosemary, cucumber, mint and black peppercorns, strawberry and basil, strawberry syrup, chilies and lime, etc. Fruits such as kumquats or other citrus or cucumber can be muddled in it. A gin and tonic can also be mixed with a sorbet.
Some gin-and-tonic inspired drinks also have champagne (Parisian), vermouth and Campari (Sbagliato-nic), vermouth and bitters (Posh G&T), super smokey whiskey (Ol' Smokey), peach liqueur and grapefruit bitters (Tonic Delight), mint bitters and chocolate liqueur (Guilty Pleasure), etc.
In Spain, a variation on the drink called Gin-Tonic has become popular. This differs from a traditional gin and tonic as it is served in a balloon glass or coupe glass with plenty of ice and a garnish tailored to the flavors of the gin. The drink could be fruit-based but the use of herbs and vegetables, reflecting the gin's botanicals, is increasingly popular. The balloon glass is used because the aromas of the drink can gather at its opening for the drinker to more easily appreciate.
The popularity of this variation of the gin and tonic has led to the establishment of Gin-Tonic bars, in which customers can choose their preferred gin, tonic and garnish from a menu.
In popular culture
The trans-galactic nature of the gin and tonic is imagined in Douglas Adams' novel “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe,” which describes how "85% of all known worlds in the Galaxy, be they primitive or highly advanced, have invented a drink called jynnan tonnyx, or gee-N'N-T'N-ix, or jinond-o-nicks, or any one of a thousand or more variations on the same phonetic theme. The drinks themselves are not the same, and vary between the Sivolvian 'chinanto/mnigs' which is ordinary water served at slightly above room temperature, and the Gagrakackan 'tzjin-anthony-ks' which kills cows at a hundred paces; and in fact the one common factor between all of them, beyond the fact that the names sound the same, is that they were all invented and named before the worlds concerned made contact with any other worlds."
James Bond specifies a recipe for a gin and tonic while in Kingston, Jamaica, in the book “Dr. No.” Unusually, it involves the juice of a whole lime.
In the BBC1 and Amazon Prime television series “Fleabag,” Fleabag and the Priest enjoy canned G&Ts from Marks and Spencer. The store reported a 24% increase in sales after the episodes aired.
Founded in 2010, International Gin & Tonic Day is celebrated worldwide on October 19.
Gin
Gin is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its predominant flavor from juniper berries or Juniperus communis.
Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern France, Flanders and the Netherlands, to provide aqua vita from distillates of grapes and grains. It then became an object of commerce in the spirits industry. Gin emerged in England after the introduction of the jenever, a Dutch and Belgian liquor that was originally a medicine. Although this development had been taking place since the early 17th century, gin became widespread after the William of Orange-led 1688 Glorious Revolution and subsequent import restrictions on French brandy.
Gin today is produced in different ways from a wide range of herbal ingredients, giving rise to many distinct styles and brands. After juniper, gin tends to be flavored with botanical/herbal, spice, floral or fruit flavors or often a combination. It is most commonly consumed mixed with tonic water. Gin is also often used as a base spirit to produce flavored, gin-based liqueurs, for example sloe gin, traditionally produced by the addition of fruit, flavorings and sugar.
Etymology
The name gin is a shortened form of the older English word genever, related to the French word genièvre and the Dutch word jenever. All ultimately derive from juniperus, the Latin for juniper.
History
Origin: 11th and 13th century mentions
The earliest known written reference to jenever appears in the 13th-century encyclopaedic work “Der Naturen Bloeme” in Bruges, Belgium, with the earliest printed recipe for jenever dating from 16th-century work “Een Constelijck Distileerboec” in Antwerp, Belgium.
Gin's roots can be further traced to 11th-century Benedictine monks in Salerno, in southern Italy, in a monastery surrounded by an area rich in juniper trees. These monks used a swan-necked alembic still, the kind invented by Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān in Baghdad in the late 700s. The monks used it to distill sharp, fiery, alcoholic tonics, one of which was distilled from wine infused with juniper berries. They were making medicines, hence the juniper. As a medicinal herb, juniper had been an essential part of doctors’ kits for centuries: the Romans burned juniper branches for purification, and medieval plague doctors stuffed the beaks of their ghoulish masks with juniper to protect them from the Black Death. Across Europe, apothecaries handed out juniper tonic wines for coughs, colds, pains, strains, ruptures and cramps. These were a popular cure-all. A little too popular, according to some, who thought people were keener to take their medicine than they should be.
17th century
The physician Franciscus Sylvius has been falsely credited with the invention of gin in the mid-17th century, although the existence of jenever is confirmed in Philip Massinger's play “The Duke of Milan” in 1623, when Sylvius would have been about nine years old. It is further claimed that English soldiers who provided support in Antwerp against the Spanish in 1585, during the Eighty Years' War, were already drinking jenever for its calming effects before battle, from which the term Dutch courage is believed to have originated. According to some unconfirmed accounts, gin originated in Italy.
By the mid-17th century, numerous small Dutch and Flemish distillers had popularized the re-distillation of malted barley spirit or malt wine with juniper, anise, caraway, coriander, etc., which were sold in pharmacies and used to treat such medical problems as kidney ailments, lumbago, stomach ailments, gallstones and gout. Gin emerged in England in varying forms by the early 17th century, and at the time of the Restoration, enjoyed a brief resurgence. Gin became vastly more popular as an alternative to brandy when William III, II & I and Mary II became co-sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland after leading the Glorious Revolution. The Glorious Revolution of November 1688 — also known as the Glorieuze Overtocht or Glorious Crossing by the Dutch — was the deposition of James II and VII, king of England, Scotland and Ireland and replacement by his daughter Mary II and her husband, William III of Orange, stadtholder and de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. Particularly in crude, inferior forms, gin was more likely to be flavored with turpentine. Historian Angela McShane has described it as a "Protestant drink" as its rise was brought about by a Protestant king, fueling his armies fighting the Catholic Irish and French.
18th century
Gin drinking in England rose significantly after the government allowed unlicensed gin production and at the same time, imposed a heavy duty on all imported spirits such as French brandy. These actions created a larger market for poor-quality barley that was unfit for brewing beer, and in 1695–1735 thousands of gin-shops sprang up throughout England — a period known as the Gin Craze. Because of the low price of gin, when compared with other drinks available at the same time, and in the same geographic location, gin began to be consumed regularly by the poor. Of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London — not including coffee shops and drinking chocolate shops — over half were gin shops. Beer maintained a healthy reputation as it was often safer to drink the brewed ale than unclean plain water. Gin, though, was blamed for various social problems, and it may have been a factor in the higher death rates which stabilized London's previously growing population. The reputation of the two drinks was illustrated by William Hogarth in his engravings “Beer Street” and “Gin Lane” in 1751, described by the BBC as "arguably the most potent anti-drug poster ever conceived." The negative reputation of gin survives today in the English language, in terms like “gin mills” or the American phrase “gin joints” to describe disreputable bars, or “gin-soaked” to refer to drunks. The epithet “mother's ruin” is a common British name for gin, the origin of which is the subject of ongoing debate.
The Gin Act 1736 imposed high taxes on retailers and led to riots in the streets. The prohibitive duty was gradually reduced and finally abolished in 1742. The Gin Act 1751 was more successful, however; it forced distillers to sell only to licensed retailers and brought gin shops under the jurisdiction of local magistrates. Gin in the 18th century was produced in pot stills and was somewhat sweeter than the London gin known today.
In London in the early 18th century, much gin was distilled legally in residential houses — there were estimated to be 1,500 residential stills in 1726 — and was often flavored with turpentine to generate resinous woody notes in addition to the juniper. As late as 1913, Webster's Dictionary states without further comment, "common gin” is usually flavored with turpentine."
Another common variation was to distill in the presence of sulphuric acid. Although the acid itself does not distil, it imparts the additional aroma of diethyl ether to the resulting gin. Sulphuric acid subtracts one water molecule from two ethanol molecules to create diethyl ether, which also forms an azeotrope with ethanol, and therefore distills with it. The result is a sweeter spirit, and one that may have possessed additional analgesic or even intoxicating effects.
Dutch or Belgian gin, also known as jenever or genever, evolved from malt wine spirits, and is a distinctly different drink from later styles of gin. Schiedam, a city in the province of South Holland, is famous for its jenever-producing history. The same for Hasselt in the Belgian province of Limburg. The oude or old style of jenever remained very popular throughout the 19th century, where it was referred to as Holland or Geneva gin in popular, American, pre-Prohibition bartender guides.
The 18th century gave rise to a style of gin referred to as Old Tom gin, which is a softer, sweeter style of gin, often containing sugar. Old Tom gin faded in popularity by the early 20th century.
19th-20th centuries
The invention and development of the column still in 1826 and 1831 made the distillation of neutral spirits practical, thus enabling the creation of the "London dry" style that evolved later in the 19th century.
In tropical British colonies, gin was used to mask the bitter flavor of quinine, which was the only effective anti-malarial compound. Quinine was dissolved in carbonated water to form tonic water; the resulting cocktail is gin and tonic, although modern tonic water contains only a trace of quinine as a flavoring. Gin is a common base spirit for many mixed drinks, including the martini. Secretly produced "bathtub gin" was available in the speakeasies and "blind pigs" of Prohibition-era America as a result of the relative simple production.
Sloe gin is traditionally described as a liqueur made by infusing sloes — the fruit of the blackthorn — in gin, although modern versions are almost always compounded from neutral spirits and flavorings. Similar infusions are possible with other fruits, such as damsons. Another popular gin-based liqueur with a longstanding history is Pimm's No.1 Cup — 25% alcohol by volume — which is a fruit cup flavored with citrus and spices.
The National Jenever Museums are located in Hasselt in Belgium and Schiedam in the Netherlands.
21st century
Since 2013 gin has been in a period of ascendancy worldwide, with many new brands and producers entering the category leading to a period of strong growth, innovation and change. More recently gin-based liqueurs have been popularized, reaching a market outside that of traditional gin drinkers, including fruit-flavored and usually colored pink gin, rhubarb gin, spiced gin, violet gin, blood orange gin and sloe gin. Surging popularity and unchecked competition has led to consumers’ conflation of gin with gin liqueurs and many products are straddling, pushing or breaking the boundaries of established definitions in a period of genesis for the industry.
Flavoring
Popular botanicals or flavoring agents for gin — besides the required juniper — often include citrus elements, such as lemon and bitter orange peel, as well as a combination of other spices, which may include any of anise, angelica root and seed, orris root, licorice root, cinnamon, almond, cubeb, savory, lime peel, grapefruit peel, dragon eye or longan, saffron, baobab, frankincense, coriander, grains of paradise, nutmeg, cassia bark or others. The different combinations and concentrations of these botanicals in the distillation process cause the variations in taste among gin products.
Chemical research has begun to identify the various chemicals that are extracted in the distillation process and contribute to gin's flavoring. For example, juniper monoterpenes come from juniper berries. Citric and berry flavors come from chemicals such as limonene and gamma-terpinene linalool found in limes, blueberries and hops amongst others. Floral notes come from compounds such as geraniol and euganol. Spice-like flavors come from chemicals such as sabinene, delta-3-carene, and para-cymene.
In 2018, more than half the growth in the UK gin category was contributed by flavored gin.
Sloe gin
Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and sloes, the fruit or drupe of Prunus spinosa — a relative of the plum. Sloe gin has an alcohol content between 15 and 30 percent by volume. However, the European Union has established a minimum of 25% ABV for sloe gin to be named as such. Sloe gin is technically a gin-based liqueur, but due to historical prevalence at the time of writing the EU spirit drink regulations, the colloquial name “sloe gin” was included in the legal definitions and as such is the only gin-based liqueur that can legally be called gin without the liqueur suffix. The traditional way of making sloe gin is to soak the sloes in gin. Sugar is required to ensure the sloe juice is extracted from the fruit.
Many commercial sloe gins today are made by flavoring less expensive neutral grain spirits, although some manufacturers still use the traditional method. U.S. distilleries often use close relatives of the sloe, such as the Aronia berry or beach plum, to produce a domestic version of sloe gin.
Manufacture
Sloe gin is made from ripe sloes, which are traditionally picked after the first frost of winter — late October to early November in the northern hemisphere. Each sloe is pricked, traditionally with a thorn taken from the blackthorn bush on which they grow. An alternative folktale says that one should not prick the sloes with a metal fork unless it is made of silver. A modern variation is to pick the sloes earlier and freeze them.
A wide-necked jar is filled halfway with pricked sloes and 4 ounces of sugar is added for each one imperial pint or 570 ml of sloes. The jar is then filled with gin, sealed, turned several times to mix and stored in a cool, dark place. It is turned every day for the first two weeks, then each week, until at least three months have passed.
The gin will now have a deep ruby red color. The liqueur is poured off and the sloes discarded or infused in white wine or cider, made into jam or used as a basis for a chutney or a filling for liqueur chocolates. The liqueur can be filtered or decanted back into clean containers and left to stand for another week. Careful decanting can eliminate almost all sediment, leaving a red liqueur that is not cloudy.
Recipes for sloe gin vary depending on the maker's taste. The sweetness can be adjusted to taste at the end of the process, although sufficient sugar is required while the fruit is steeped to ensure full extraction of flavor. When made sufficiently slowly, the alcohol extracts an almond-like essence from the sloes' stones, giving sloe gin a particular aromatic flavr. However, some recipes use a shorter steeping time and include a small amount of almond essence. Another common variation is the addition of a few cloves and a small stick of cinnamon.
In North Yorkshire, Masons Gin distills the sloe berries in the gin as opposed to the traditional infusing the berries in the gin after distillation.
UK competitions
A sloe gin competition is held each January in The Pandy Inn, Dorstone, Herefordshire, England, with the winner crowned the "Grand Master of the Sloes." There were 30 sloe gins entered in the 2015 competition. They were sampled and scored on color, clarity, taste and quality by more than 50 judges.
There are also the Sloe Gin Awards in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England, which are held annually and include gold, silver and bronze awards.
The George Inn in Frant, East Sussex, near Royal Tunbridge Wells, England, plays host to the annual Sloe Gin World Championships in December.
Related liqueurs
In Germany and other German-speaking countries, Schlehenlikör (de) is made by soaking sloes, sugar and possibly some spices in vodka, gin or rum. The most popular commercial brand, Schlehenfeuer, based on white rum, is made by Mast-Jägermeister SE, better known for its product Jägermeister.
In Spain, patxaran is made by soaking sloes in an anise-flavored spirit, resulting in a light reddish-brown, sweet liquid, around 25–30% alcohol by volume.
In Italy, bargnolino is made by soaking sloes with sugar and spices in spirit alcohol — recipe varies locally, resulting a reddish, sweet liquor, around 40–45% alcohol by volume; it is often chilled before serving.
In Poland, tarninówka is an infusion or nalewka of sloes in vodka or rectified spirit.
Slider is still cider in which the sloes used to make sloe gin have been steeped; it is a tradition of Devonshire in the UK. Sloe whisky and sloe brandy are variants on the tradition and are often mixed with ginger beer or ginger ale.
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