Gin and Tonic
London dry gin and cold tonic water over plenty of ice with a squeeze of lime: the two-ingredient highball with a malaria-medicine backstory that is half history and half legend.
Quinine, from the bark of the cinchona tree, was the classic treatment for malaria. Wikipedia's gin and tonic article ties the drink to British military officers in 19th-century British India, who received a gin ration and mixed it with bitter quinine tonic, sugar and lime to make their anti-malaria dose easier to take. Tonic water went on sale in 1858, according to the same article, and Difford's Guide says Schweppes launched its first carbonated quinine tonic, Indian Tonic Water, in 1870 and that the drink "likely" emerged in India in the second half of the 19th century. Modern tonic is much sweeter and has far less quinine; US rules cap it at 83 parts per million in soft drinks (21 CFR 172.575, via search results), and a 2004 study cited by Wikipedia concluded that even large amounts of tonic cannot keep quinine at a level that treats malaria. In Spain the "gin tonic" is often served in a big balloon glass (Wikipedia).
Why it works the kitchen science
More ice, not less
A glass packed with ice stays colder and melts more slowly than a few cubes floating in liquid, so the drink tastes less watery.
Bubbles are the point
Cold tonic poured gently keeps its carbonation, which carries the gin's juniper aroma up to your nose.
Step by step
- Step 1
Method: Built. Fill a highball (or balloon) glass to the top with ice cubes and chill it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Step 2
Squeeze the lime wedge lightly over the ice and drop it in.
- Step 3
Pour in the gin.
- Step 4
Tilt the glass and pour the tonic slowly down a bar spoon or the side of the glass, so it loses as few bubbles as possible.
- Step 5
Lift once from the bottom with the spoon, about 2 seconds; do not stir hard.
- Step 6
Top up with a couple more ice cubes if the level dropped, and serve right away.
Gin and Tonic
Serves 1 · 1 drink · 2 min total
Drink
- 2 oz (60 ml) London dry gin
- 4 oz (120 ml) cold tonic water, from a fresh small bottle or can
- Plenty of ice cubes
Garnish
- 1 lime wedge
Method
- Method: Built. Fill a highball (or balloon) glass to the top with ice cubes and chill it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Squeeze the lime wedge lightly over the ice and drop it in.
- Pour in the gin.
- Tilt the glass and pour the tonic slowly down a bar spoon or the side of the glass, so it loses as few bubbles as possible.
- Lift once from the bottom with the spoon, about 2 seconds; do not stir hard.
- Top up with a couple more ice cubes if the level dropped, and serve right away.
Adapted from Difford's Guide, "Gin and Tonic": 1 2/3 oz London dry gin and 4 oz tonic water in a pre-chilled Collins glass filled with ice, with a lime wedge. Wikipedia notes most recipes fall between 1:1 and 1:3 gin to tonic. We use 2 oz gin and 4 oz tonic (1:2) and add the ice before the liquids so the tonic keeps its fizz. diffordsguide.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Keep the tonic in the fridge; warm tonic foams up and goes flat on the ice.
- Spanish style: use a balloon wine glass, a 1:3 ratio and a garnish that echoes the gin (a strip of lemon peel, juniper berries or a cucumber ribbon).
- Tonic water contains quinine; see the Drinking safety baseline.
- Our math: about 1.5 US standard drinks, assuming 90-proof gin.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The G&T was invented by British officers in India to fight malaria. Disputed: Wikipedia ties it to officers in British India; Difford's says the exact origin is unknown and that it "likely" emerged in India in the late 1800s.
- Tonic water protects against malaria. Documented as false today: modern tonic has little quinine and a 2004 study (Wikipedia) found it cannot reach a treatment level.
- Lime, not lemon. Disputed in practice: Difford's uses lime; many bars use lemon. Both are fine.
- The East India Company invented it. Folklore: often said; neither Wikipedia nor Difford's names the Company.
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