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There are certain drinks that are iconic. Irish coffee, the Manhattan, the mojito, gin and tonic. Each has its own image and moment. A hot summer afternoon seems to beg for something cold, crisp, and citrusy. Some might consider a soft drink to be sufficient, but a gin and tonic is a hot-weather soda for adults.
It’s in the gin and tonic’s genetic makeup. The drink hails from the days of the British Raj in India, when soldiers were instructed to eat limes (to prevent scurvy) and to drink quinine water (to combat malaria). Quinine water, rich in the malaria-fighting qualities of the bark of the cinchona tree, was indeed a useful tonic against disease. We call it tonic water today, though the bottles of tonic in the market are little more than sweet water with bitter flavors. Once the bubbles disappear and it’s flat, the sweetness sticks out. Don’t drink flat tonic.
But 200 years ago, tonic wasn’t bottled. A typical British soldier stationed in India was handed some bitter, cinchona-laden water and told to squeeze a bunch of limes in it. It didn’t take a genius to think that adding a bit of Dutch Courage might make the concoction more palatable.
Why Dutch Courage? The British were impressed by the ferocity of the Dutch mercenaries they hired from time to time; they believed that the Dutch gin they consumed provided the Dutch with fighting mettle. Gin in the 17th and 18th centuries was a product of Holland. Genever, as they called it then, was the result of Dutch distillation of grains flavored with juniper (genever in Dutch) and other botanicals such as citrus rind. The British shortened it to “gin.”
For the better part of two centuries, the Dutch were among the masters of the high seas, and that status translated into warehouses stocked with the world’s spices. Alcohol being a great preservative, the Dutch used genever to capture the evanescent character of juniper, lemon and orange rind, coriander, orris root, angelica root, cinnamon, and many other once-valuable flavoring assets.
In the early 19th century, gin became British, as London dry gin pushed aside Dutch genever to become the most popular style; it was crisper, more citrusy, less ponderous, and less sweet. Dutch genever is delightful stuff, but it’s the opposite of what makes a gin and tonic so refreshing.
Still, many of the same botanicals hold sway in London dry gin; most gins are equal parts juniper and coriander. The other elements may number a half-dozen, or there may be nearly 20. A great gin and tonic offers a sense of balance among those flavors, the slightly bitter element of tonic, and the sweet/sour notes of fresh limes. Oh, yes, and ice.
Ice defines a crucial American contribution to the cocktail. And, when it comes to quality ice, most American homes are better stocked than most bars. Typical bar ice is wet and soft, breaking apart in seconds. Historically, bar ice was very cold and very hard; it would melt slowly and chill the drink to its bones. As the sun takes over the sky, that’s exactly what I want a gin and tonic to do to my tired bones.
By United Sommelier Doug Frost
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