The History of the Gin and Tonic

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Gin and Tonic

Today’s mini-series will cover the all too simple Gin and Tonic. Well, easy to make but did you know…

Gin and Tonics were -like Gin itself- originally developed as a medicine. In this case to help fight malaria. When the British were in the East they became susceptible to malaria and eventually found out that quinine (an ingredient in Tonic Water) was useful for getting rid of the disease. Well, as you would probably expect, drinking Tonic Water by itself is pretty nasty (unless you’ve acquired a taste for it) and they had problems getting the British in the East to drink it.

Along comes our friend Gin to be mixed with the Tonic Water, which not only made drinking it much more pleasant, but also created an excellent drink that would be remembered from then on, even if its relationship to the disease was forgotten. So, as you can see, Gin and Tonic Water came about due to medicinal reasons, then caught on later for their more pleasurable aspects.

On a minor note, the Lime (served in any GOOD Gin and Tonic) being a citrus fruit (and therefore containing Vitamin C) helps to prevent scurvy. Usually the limes are not the dominant ingredient of Gin and Tonic, so they won’t actually get rid of scurvy if you’ve already got it – unless you drink A LOT of Gin and Tonics of course.

Turn Back the Hands of Time . 

The time 1650, English sailors set off to conquer the world! Two hundred plus sailors compacted on 1 wooden ship. No women, only men sailing the world in one vast fishbowl. Unfortunately England, as well as the rest of Europe, isn’t quite right for growing tropical fruits. Without vitamin C in your daily diet you can, amongst other things, develop scurvy.  Scurvy leads to the formation of spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from the mucous membranes. The spots are most abundant on the thighs and legs, and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels depressed, and is partially immobilized. Scurvy was at one time common among sailors, pirates and others aboard ships at sea longer than perishable fruits and vegetables  could be stored (subsisting instead only on cured and salted meats and dried grains) and by soldiers  similarly separated from these foods for extended periods.

So, you now have 200 plus men on a ship, no women and all scratching themselves like a dog with fleas.  They now steer their ships towards the tropics for none other than limes, which have a very high concentrate of vitamin c.  Into the jungle they go, collecting all the limes they could store. One problem, along with the tropics come mosquitoes.  Some mosquitoes carry malaria!  The British eventually found out that quinine (an ingredient in Tonic Water) was useful for getting rid of the disease. If you have ever tasted real tonic water I’m sure you have found it less than desirable. Drinking tonic water by itself was more of an acquired taste and the British were having a hard time ingesting it.

So, you now have 200 plus men on a ship, no women, all scratching themselves like a dog with fleas, infected with malaria, sucking on limes and drinking tonic water. Great Job they had! One wise British seaman decided that by adding Gin to the tonic it would help smooth it out and make it more potable.

So, you now have 200 plus men on a ship, curing their scurvy (adding the lime juice to the drink), ridding themselves of malaria (drinking the nasty tonic water) and getting drunk due to the gin that was added. And you know what? They probably didn’t care if there were any women on board at this point!

Don’t be fooled: the gin and tonic may be many things, but easy it is not.

It’s a very simple drink, as is the martini. For that reason, it’s very easy to get wrong.

Because there’s so little that goes into this symbolic drink — gin, tonic water, ice and perhaps a bit of lime — what really matters are good ingredients .

Yet even gin and tonic lovers face an uphill battle to find a good one.  Even when done right, it’s not an easy drink to love — tonic’s slightly bitter quinine taste is a turnoff to sweet-drink lovers.

Atop the list of potential pitfalls is the tonic, a misunderstood beverage if ever there was one, and a potentially devastating blow to a perfect G&T.

The sad part is, it’s screwed up at 90 percent of the bars in America, and you know the reason? Ninety percent of bars in America use soda out of a gun that in no way, shape or form resembles quinine water.

The better bet is tonic from a bottle — preferably one of those single-serving jobs, which preserves freshness. Request it that way if you’re ordering in a bar; the best bars will at least stock club soda and tonic in bottles.

Gin vs. gin
The secret to the gin is the choice of botanicals. All gins have juniper as a flavor base in their distillation, which is what provides those foresty scents. But most use additional flavorings of citrus and spices. Bombay Sapphire has made its reputation on its use of 10 botanicals, from lemon peel to cubeb berries, a Javanese pepper. The mix makes Sapphire’s taste profile spicier than most — though Walker insists it’s the balance of flavors, not the number of them, that is key to its attractiveness .

If you prefer a more straightforward gin — any London dry such as Beefeater or regular Bombay — to the more aromatic options, which also include Dutch and Plymouth gins, and new options like Tanqueray Ten. Or if you opt for “something snappier” like the original Tanqueray.

The key to the drink’s classic taste is to balance the bitterness of the tonic against the juniper and other flavors in the gin.

As for the rest, choose a tall, slim, chilled highball glass, the freshest limes possible and — no matter how hot the day — solid cubes of the coldest ice you can get. Ratios for tonic to gin vary widely, from equal parts to 2:1. It’s really a matter of taste.

Variations abound, and none are beyond the pale: a sprig of mint, or a dash of Angostura bitters only add additional layers of flavor.  But the humble gin and tonic is a hot-weather drink, best not to be over thought.

Keep it simple a gentle stir and a big ol’ hunk of lime and head for the hammock.

And now the recipe You will need:

1. Some Collin/Highball glasses
2. some lemons
3. ice-cubes
4. Gin
4. Tonic

 
1. Cut a lemon slice and squeeze it into the glass, to get out all its oil and juice and after this put it at the bottom of the glass
2. Full with ice cubes till the edges of the glass
3. Squeeze a half lemon above of the ice cubes. Wait for 30 secs.
4. Fill the 1/3 of the glass with Gin
5. Fill the rest of glass with Tonic
6. Gently stir the mixture with the knife you have cut the lemon