The quest for the perfect gin and tonic
The gin and tonic is that most elusive cocktail - anyone can make one, however when balanced correctly with the correct gin and garnish, the drink can provide quite insurmountable amounts of joy. As such one must understand the ingredients necessary to harmonise the drink; as during mixing this drinks apparent simplicity is also its greatest treachery.
A History
Perhaps my interest in the drink culminates from my desire to resist long lasting American influence during my time here, as its first inception was in 19th century British colonies in India; or maybe my (subtly) jingoistic psyche likes to compare my moving abroad to the imperial Brits of the 1800s. Regardless, tonic was produced to encourage the ingestion of quinine in colonists, since this is an effective anti-malarial and has even been associated with repelling mosquitoes. It can be found most in the bark of the Red Cinchon tree. Modern tonic water contains little quinine (83 ppm in the US), however its presence can still be particularly noted by its fluorescent repsonse under ultraviolet light. This was particularly notable under the UV black lights that were featured at San Francisco's Infusion Lounge New Year's Eve party two nights ago. This quinine gives tonic water its distinctively bitter taste, and makes the drinking of tonic water alone an unpleasant process, even to those with dispositions to caustic tastes. |
Tonic fluorescence, NYE 2011 |
Hogarth's 'Gin Lane' |
Gin itself, or at least spirits distilled with juniper berries, has existed in recorded history for just under 1000 years. The drink we know today became popular in England and Europe in the 17th century, with its invention accredited to the Dutch physician Franciscus Sylvius - it is speculated that gin's calming effect on soldiers before battle (during the 80 years war) gave rise to the term Dutch courage. In the 1700s gin achieved a notoriety after heavy duty was applied to imported spirits and unlicensed gin production was permitted. This cheap gin was often augmented with turpentine and sulphuric acid and its relative abundance created a period known as the Gin Craze. It is well documented that both birth and death rates increased during these years, and many attribute this largely to the influx of low quality, low price gin. The gin acts of 1736, 1742 and 1751 effectively ended the Gin craze by taxing and controlling manufacturers. Gin remained relatively unpopular for the next century or two. Some popularity was regained during the prohibition era in the United States, and the popularity of gin has been steadily increasing through the 20th and 21st centuries. |
Garnishes
The most heinous of all crimes gin and tonic related is to use a slice of lemon as a garnish for the drink. Lemon quashes the fragrance of the junpier berries and does not integrate at all well, whereas a lightly squeezed lime wedge complements the flavours of the gin in a far more gratifying fashion. Of course the exact garnish depends on the gin being used, some will require more lime, some less, and some a totally different adornment. With no other guidance, an eighth of a lime squeezed and dropped into the drink per half pint made is a good rule of thumb. See the gin section for more fine tuned details. |
Tonics
Decent tonic is imperative to the mixing of the drink. Cheap tonics are oftened far too sweetened and unbalanced, furthermore this sweetening is often artifical with saccharine or aspartame. Supermarkets own brands of tonic are especially guilty of this. The result means often one must resort to more gin and lime for counterbalance, at best you may achieve a mediocre drink, at worst there is no telling. Recent years have seen a new interest in creating ones own tonic water, however to keep things simple lets just say that Schweppes is the best option; Canada Dry is an acceptable second resort. Using the small glass bottles preserves the taste and carbonation the best - cans give a residual metallic taste and large plastic bottles rapidly lose fizz. |
Gins
Now, the most difficult part is deciding on the gin.