There is no doubt that the Gin & Tonic is the trendiest cocktail. During the last years we have seen bar shelves loaded with all kinds of gins. Later on those same shelves were also loaded with all sorts of tonic waters. Now that we have numberless possibilities of combining tonic waters and gins, we start adding a whole range of different ingredients into our cocktail. But, are we always doing it right?
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We do not think so. Why? Because we have seen so many times our Gin & Tonic turned into a real salad. It seems that lately we can put as much as we want into our glass. However, this should not be the philosophy.
A Gin & Tonic should be first and foremost gin – with its alcohol and juniper aroma- mixed with tonic water – bubbly and bitter. If we don’t have the basic in this cocktail the result can be anything but a Gin & Tonic. With this we don’t mean we shouldn’t add any other ingredient but we should do it with common sense and great care.
Some of the current gins are made with botanicals suitable to all kinds of innovations and highlighting some of its aromas. However, this doesn’t mean we should taste a spirit with just one flavor. For instance, Hendrick’s Gin with cucumber is a widely accepted combination. However, if we fill our Gin & Tonic with cucumber it would make no difference drinking another low quality gin or Hendrick’s since we would only taste the cucumber. We should subtly put the ingredients so that we intensify an aroma without masking the basic because we wish to taste a good Gin & Tonic not a salad.
