Gin & Tonic Makes a Come Back. How do you drink Your´s ?

[Alexandria Profile]

I enjoy a Gin & Tonic when out with Friends at our local bar scene.

1) Menorca Produced Gin Mare (the sea) which I have with a Fevertree Mediterranean Blue Tonic ( also made in Barcelona ) ..

2) Alicante Bio Produced Gin Maverick Blue which I have with a Maverick Blue Tonic ..

I have tried many gins however, these two are both light and aromatic and very pleasant .. and Bio ..


Gin and Tonic is the most popular cocktail in along the coast of the Mediterranean and in the Madrid Capital ..

How do you have your´s ?

[Renée Profile]

My youngest son always buys me Hendricks Gin for Christmas and birthdays, but at over £40, it's not one that I can afford. One of the botanicals in the gin is rose petals, which give it a lovely flavour. Everything seems to work together. I have Fever-tree tonic water with it, but not the one that you have, which I haven't seen over here.

I buy the Asda supermarket gin ... at a much lower price and also good, but I have just discovered Fever-tree Aromatic Tonic Water, which contains Angostura Bitters, which has a pink colour and I like the flavour.

Many years ago, Pink Gin was a very popular drink, especially in the Navy, apparently! Angostura Bitters was added to gin to give the pink colour and also add flavour.

[Joanbunting Profile]

Gin and tonic never went away as far as I am concerned

I haven't had Minorcan gin for ages Alexandria and I do like it very much. I also love Genever(Dutch gin) I drink th. It is very fragrante olde straight from the freezer without firther addition and the jonge with the best tonic I can lay me hands on - noy easy here.

At the moment I am enjoying the Jersey gin given to me for my birthday by my son. It is distilled in Charentais alembic stills - as is cognac . It is very fragrant and only needs a splash of tonic and a slice of lime to make it perfect

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Renée,

There are several Fevertree Tonic Waters.

A lime Green label, a blue (Mediterranean), a rose pink, a yellow and a white ..

They are all Bio too .. I always buy the blue and the rose ..

What is the currency Exchange on 40 Pounds in Euros ?

Have a lovely day ..

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Joan Bunting,

Definitely sounds lovely .. I too like my chilled and with just a splash of tonic & a slice of lime. Shall have to do some research on Jersey Gins & Genever ..

Thank you for your feedback ..

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I agree with Joan, in the UK G&T never went away, always been a standard in bars, at home and even in pubs

However there is an increased interest in gin, in special artisan gins in particular, and there's even a scene of specialist gin bars. Used to be the standard was Gordon's gin with Schweppes tonic but anything goes now

My standard is Fever-Tree Indian Tonic (yellow label). I just checked, it's not Bio (organic). They do a lot of different mixers, the ginger ale is excellent though I don't like it in gin (a British tradition), makes a great Dark and Stormy (with dark rum and lime)
http://www.fever-tree.com

The trouble with tonic is that it's all way too sweet. In Burma you get not tonic but Bitter Soda, just soda water and quinine, and even with Mandalay gin it's nice not to have the sugar.

When I got back I emailed Fever-Tree and suggested an extra dry tonic. They didn't reply, just put me on the list for their newsletter. Very rude and technically illegal (Data Protection law).

I don't like tonics with too many added flavourings, artisan gin is expensive enough and I don't want the tonic to alter the balance, Fentiman's is nasty IMHO

Gin? Well my local artisan gin is East End and it is pretty good. There's a trend for pink gins, the actual gin not the cocktail, the original Pink Gin is very nice, Warner Edwards Harrington Gin is good and I want to try their Rhubarb Gin, I like an occasional Bathtub Gin as a change.

Of the mainstream the best IMO is Tanqueray Ten (basic Tanqueray is pretty good though) and on Pampy's recommendation I got some Bombay Sapphire East which I really like. Plymouth Gin is also good

[Pampy Profile]

My SIL has started to drink Marsons Lavender Edition Yorkshire gin and says it's lovely. It's a new one on me - never heard of it before but will definitely be having a taste next time I visit her!

[Renée Profile]

Definitely, Pampy! You'll let us know, won't you!

@ Alexandria.

£40 = €45.08

The £9.97 Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin from Aldi won a gold medal at the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) in recent weeks. It is the one that I have at the moment.

Sue, there are lo-cal tonics, but as you will know, they contain artificial sweeteners unfortunately.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

It's not the calories that worry me, it's the extreme sweetness Renee, and Mr Warner of Harrington gin I know agrees

Yes Oliver Cromwell is good, at Christmas they do a premium version that really is super I think it's called 1599

[Renée Profile]

Yes, I realise that, Sue, but choose sugar rather than artificial sweeteners. I would prefer a dry tonic water.

I have only just started drinking gin, because wine was less expensive. The presents of gin from my son started me off! I will watch out for the premium version at Christmas.

[WhitefieldFoodie Profile]

As Mrs WFF has become fond of Gin it is our shared tipple now, which I am more than happy with as I love the stuff.

My 3 favourites are:

Bathtub - A strong, well flavoured gin, with a whack of warming spices to go along with the juniper. I have it with a cinnamon stick and slice of orange with Fever Tree.

Caorunn - A clean and crisp gin with a sweeter fresh fruit flavour. I have it with some slices of red lady apple and Schweppes tonic. I find Fever Tree too sweet for this gin.

Scapegrace Goldi Locks - A gin from New Zealand, I think its the best gin EVER. Clean, fresh, dry and full on juniper overload. A proper London Dry style. I have it with a slice of grapefruit and a couple of juniper berries, topped up with Schweppes again.

I had a little bit of a revelation with the critically acclaimed Aldi Gin. Served with Cucumber and Granny Smiths, with Schweppes it is a thing of beauty. The cucumber just helps to balance the dryness of it all. Actually it has been a summer of gin related revelations. I was always a bit of a "tonic snob" not accepting anything other than Fentiman's or Fever Tree, but after doing some blind tasting with the missus I realise I prefer Schweppes, as it is nice and bubbly and not as sweet as the "premier" brands,

[Joanbunting Profile]

Don't you just hate it when you ask for a gin and tonic at a friends house and they pour in vast quantities of "diet" Schhhhhhh-you-no-who???

I have just discovered that an artisanal distillery up the valley who produce a not bad at all pastis, are making gin. Trouble is it is quite expensive and as they only sell full bottles it would be rather risky to experiment.

Supplementary questions; lemon or lime? Slice or wedge? Ice or just both gin and tonic thoroughly chilled?

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Ha
The fashion seems to be to use less tonic and more ice than traditionally, suits me as long as the tonic has enough fizz

I generally prefer lime as a garnish, but cucumber, orange, or grapefruit can work, always worth looking at the bottle to see what the maker recommends

Sapphire East suggest a little squirt of lime juice then drop in a slice of lemon

I'll look out for Scapegrace Goldi Lock, I like to be able to taste the juniper

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Gin is very quick to make.
Hence the rise in distilleries. 4 weeks I think? A local beer brewer here has now become a gin maker.


Our latest acquisition is Osborne (of black bull fame in Spain) gin.
We also bought their dry sherry, a fan, a pen, brandy and 3 bottles of their evoo.

We don't even drink at home, but Tony has this thing about buying gin on our travels.
We've got a lot of quirky bottles.
Thank Goodness for family get-togethers.

I do agree with that little bit of tonic, more ice, Sue.

[WhitefieldFoodie Profile]

Joan - I treat my drinks like food, taste them add a garnish, if it works, keep it. As Sue quite right says see what the maker says and play around from there. Ophir for example goes lovely with a slice of fresh ginger and half a star anise, or pink peppercorns and grapefruit.

In terms of your other questions. Big glass, full of ice, with a gin topper. I go 50ml gin, 250ml tonic. Like Wine the glass really can make a difference as the smells are really important. The big tulip style glasses that are popular work well as you can get your snozza right in there when having a gulp

Gill - The great thing about the small batch supplier is how they distil their Gin. Where the cheaper gins pump the spirit through the botanicals in a separate chamber the more artisan gins have their spirit steeped in their own botanicals individually ensuring vibrancy, or that's what they all told me a Gin event I went to at the Transport Museum in Bury

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

sounds right to me, Foodie.

Anyone for a pomada?

[WhitefieldFoodie Profile]

What is that, Gill?

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I think it was Icelesley that told me about them when we went to the Balearics a few years ago.

Ice cold local gin. It's Xoriguer over there.
And their lemonade - looks old fashioned and cloudy.
Ice, and a slice.

I counted how long they pour their gin for over there, 7 seconds.
It's not as much gin as you think, if you imagine the pourer holes in fact. Still a lot though.

Spaniards must be dismayed when they come over here and get a diddy optic measurement for their gin and tonic.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

go 50ml gin, 250ml tonic.

I'd describe that as a long one, at 1:5 ratio, the little cans of tonic are 150ml so to a 50 ml shot I get a 1:3 ratio

Though of course if you are using Goldilocks, it's over proof and needs more dilution, I just looked it up 57.5 %

I like those big goblets, but it reminds me of the 60s and 70s when pubs served "ladies drinks" in bijou Paris goblets of max 6oz capacity

Might try G&T in my large but short stem wine glasses

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Sounds very elegant, Sue.
I remember pubs wouldn't serve laydees a pint. You had to have a half.

They'd lose nearly half their custom nowadays.