The gin & tonic drink is a summer classic, but there are some tips and tricks to making it the best ever. This drink, when made right, has all the perfect tastes on a hot summer day: juniper, citrus, crispness, tang, and a touch of sweetness. What more could you want?
I love this classic cocktail. It requires very few ingredients (meaning it’s easy to keep your home bar stocked for this). While I love the idea of a fancy cocktail hour in our house, we just don’t do drinks that require too much effort. Are we just lazy? Maybe. But as I shared in my newsletter, isn’t that what summer is for?
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Tips to make the best gin & tonic:
1 Use good gin that has a flavor!
The gin is the star, so you want one that is high quality and has some of the earthy, woodsy flavor that a good gin captures. The gin should be aromatic and should not disappear (no one ever said they love drinking tonic on ice). Our gin of choice is always Tanqueray.
2 Use good tonic.
Fever Tree is by far the best tonic, less sweet and light. Q tonic is also delicious. Unfortunately, these can be expensive for a mixer. We’ll use Canada Dry tonic off the grocery store shelves frequently and find it works. But it has high fructose corn syrup in it, which I do try to avoid. (We don’t use Schweppes. Even though it’s popular, I find there is a chalky taste to it.)
Looking for more classic cocktail recipes? Try our Classic Gin Gimlet recipe.
3 Fresh lime is key.
Unlike the Gin Gimlet, you need fresh lime to get the best out of this drink (TIP: see the recipe below for our secret tip on how to use the lime!).
4 This isn’t the drink to use a diet or light tonic.
The artificial taste of the diet and light carbonated beverage is very prominent in a gin and tonic due to the simplicity of the drink.
NOTE: We like our gin & tonic drink strong. You will want to be at least equal parts gin to tonic, but on a hot summer night, we’ll go slightly more heavy-handed on the gin (albeit not too dramatically!) since that’s where the flavor is.
Of course, you’ll want to serve these in the right glasses. Low, glass, and of good quality (treat the gin with respect please). We use something similar to these, but I have my eyes on these and also love these.
Happy summer sipping!
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drink
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- 3 ounces gin Use a good quality gin that is aromatic, like Tanqueray.
- 3 ounces tonic Avoid diet or light tonic, and opt for Fever Tree, Q or Canada Dry if possible.
- fresh lime wedges
- ice
Ingredients
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- Take tumbler or low ball glass and fill with ice.
- Cut slit in the center of lime wedge and place the slit over the edge of the glass. Run the lime wedge along the entire circumference of the glass, leaving lime juice. Take lime wedge off, squeeze into glass over ice, drop used lime wedge into the glass over the ice.
- Pour gin into glass.
- Add tonic.
- Stir all ingredients in glass well using a spoon. Serve cold!