Gin and tonic

The gin and tonic is a summer staple, and without connotations of colonial decadence. Mike Froud explores the white spirit that makes up this refreshing drink.

At its most ordinary, gin can be downright boring in terms of taste and brand image - the whole experience a let-down if it isn't served correctly or if you use just any old white spirit. But, man, get it right, and a glass of London Dry with the right amount of tonic, or whathaveyou, and we're talking a wonderful refreshment unlike any other drink with a little kick inside.

 

Thing Gordon's, Beefeater, Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire and, at the super-premium end, Hendrick's and Tanqueray No. Ten - or, from South African distillers, brands including Stretton's and Old Buck (long associated with boxing sponsorships). In fact, South African distillers are more than competent when it comes to the juniper spirit and, for example, the Gordon's offered locally is distilled in South Africa under licence - many a barman has been flabbergasted on having this pointed out to him.

Point is, the category's characterised by some wonderful brand imagery and not a little intrigue. Sophisticated and still sexy after so many years, gin remains as popular as ever - the brand perceptions perhaps more suave these days, with less British pomp and very little likelihood of any cucumber sandwiches being served when the hip and trendy G&T groupies gather on hot afternoons or after dusk before an evening on the town. If there's an essential ingredient to gin, it's the juniper berry.

London Dry Gin is the type most commonly produced - distinct from compound gin, which is pretty much just juniper mixed with neutral spirit, or the sort that's been aged, or that which is more perfumed and sweeter (Tom, or Old Tom). Typically and simply put, London Dry Gin is made by adding juniper and a bunch of other botanicals to a distilled white spirit and then redistilling the concoction before bottling.

The driest of them all: Plymouth Gin. Besides the juniper berries? A host of "botanicals" grown around the world, usually including citrus (lemon and bitter orange peel) and a choice of anise, cinnamon, coriander, angelica, cassia, nuts, etc. Many of the recipes are kept secret, with the number of botanicals used ranging from just four or five to as many as 30. It's accepted that the word "gin" derived from Jenever (Holland). However, while the Dutch might lay claim to having invented the drink, London Dry originally applied to the version produced in or near the city of London before being adopted around the globe.

Today the term refers to a style which for whatever reason wasn't restricted to use by the distillers of London - unlike the protected terms for drinks such as Port (Oporto, Portugal), Sherry (Jerez, Spain) and Ouzo (Greece). It would be a ridiculous ask should the Dutch contemplate similar status for gin, especially as their Jenever (sometimes spelt Genever) is
a different product entirely, usually distilled with barley and sometimes aged in wood. So entrenched did "gin" become in the drinks vocabulary of the 18th and 19th centuries that many a bottle store in olde England was termed the local gin shop. For a short period in the 1700s, spirits in general were subject to a (very unpopular) gin tax. It was a time when gin was thought of as the drink of the poor and infamously known as "mother's ruin", a far cry from the current scenario in which some brands can set you back up to R300 a bottle.

SNAPSHOTS
BEEFEATER - Founded 1876/79 by James
Burrough of Devon in England. Named after the
Beefeaters at the Tower of London. Producer in
business since 1820, still based in London.

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE - Launched in 1987, with
the bottle designed by way of a competitive process
involving New York advertising agencies. Production
based on a recipe developed in northwest
England in 1761.

GORDON'S - Distilled in the UK (green bottle)
and under licence in several countries around the
world (clear bottle). Developed in London in 1769
by Scot Alexander Gordon, whose recipe includes
triple distillation.

HENDRICK'S - Distilled in Ayrshire, Scotland. A
one-of-a-kind that involves the traditional juniper
infusion plus ingredients such as Bulgarian rose
and cucumber mash, presented in a brown bottle
- and G&Ts tending to be served with cucumber
rather than citrus garnishing.

STRETTON'S - Production supervised and approved
in South Africa by master distiller Derrick
Stretton. One of the most competitively priced gins
with which Edward Snell & Co competes in international
competitions.

TANQUERAY - Established in London in 1830 by
Charles Tanqueray, son of a clergyman. Quadruple
distillation. Produced in Scotland, and packaged in
the now familiar green bottle (based on a cocktail
shaker) since 1951. Tanqueray No. Ten is a different
expression of the original, involving citrus fruit
additions to the botanicals.

PRICE SPECTRUM
Stretton's R50 - R60
Gilbey's R55 - R65
Old Buck R55 - R65
Seagram's R55 - R65
Gordon's R60 - R70
Tanqueray R110 - R130
Beefeater R120 - R135
Bombay Sapphire R130 - R160
Hendrick's R245 - R270
Tanqueray No. Ten R260 - R300

RECIPES

Gin and tonic: A simple recipe, with a history
going back to the British colonial era and with
medicine top of mind... In colonies with tropical
climates, quinine was prescribed as a means of
combating malaria (it still is in developing countries
where alternative treatments are unaff ordable).
The muti was/is administered by dissolving it
in carbonated H2O to become tonic water, a bitter
liquid made more palatable with the addition of
gin. Delightful, actually!

30ml to 50ml dry gin
Ice
Lime
Tonic water

Fill a highball glass two-thirds with ice. Squeeze a
wedge of lime over the ice. Add the gin and tonic.
Garnish with another wedge of lime.

OTHER RECIPES
There's more to gin than a G&T. Alternatives to
tonic encompass bitter lemon, lemonade, lemon
squash or lime, ginger ale, cola and even water,
sparkling or non.

Classic Martini: 3 to 5 parts dry gin to 1 part dry
vermouth (ice cold), garnished with a green olive or
twist of lemon. For a drier martini, use up to 10 or
even 15 parts gin to 1 part vermouth.
Pink Gin: 1½ parts dry gin with a dash or two of
Angostura bitters (very occasionally topped up
with a little tonic water).