I have a confession to make. I hate gin. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law love gin and tonics, and have tried to get me to jump on that bandwagon. But sadly, I was already firmly in the "I love vodka" wagon, which I must say is a very festive place to be.
Nevertheless, the G&T is a classic and deserves to be in The Martini Club spotlight for sure. So, huge thanks to romance author Barbara Wallace for treating us to a nice little history of this preppy drink. I especially like the whole "it's medicinal" approach for cocktails. Doctor's orders....I swear! :^)
Take it away, Barb........
*******
Grab your espadrilles and turn up your Izod collars! As an honored guest of The Martini Club, I thought I’d take today and celebrate one of the classics - the Gin and Tonic.
Gin and Tonics (or G&Ts) are staples of the New England country
club set. The Ferncliffs of
Nantucket, Daniel Moretti’s dysfunctional family in my book Weekend Agreement,
down them with regularity.
Believe it or not, when first created Gin and Tonics were
medicinal. Sort-of. The British – those original waspy
mothers of invention, created the drink in 19th century India as a
way of encouraging people to drink Quinine Water. Quinine, you may or may not remember, is used to treat
malaria and was thought to repel mosquitoes. It’s also a key ingredient in tonic water. (Though to use G&Ts as a bug
repellent now, you’d have to drink about 7 quarts. I’m pretty sure you’d stop worrying about insects long
before you finish treatment.) Wonder
if they had any idea that a couple centuries later, their medical breakthrough
would become a favorite party drink among the rebellious colonists?
Crafting a gin and tonic sounds easy enough – how hard can
mixing gin with tonic water be, right?
But, as any good preppy mixologist would tell you, nothing as easy as it
sound. True G&T aficionados
(like the Ferncliffs) won’t settle for anything less than the perfectly proper
mixture.
The key is twofold.
First, you need to use actual tonic water. Club soda simply won’t do. After all, the drink isn’t called a Gin and Soda; you need bitterness of the
quinine to balance the taste. (And
before you think I am being a master of the obvious, my research revealed that
using soda water spray is a lot of more common than you think.)
The second key is the right gin. You want one that has a good botanical base – a technical
term meaning the liquor needs to have a strong juniper base. Naturally the higher end gins do. My advice – you can’t go wrong with
Tanqueray.
Once you have the proper ingredients, then the recipe really
is easy:
2 oz Gin
Tonic Water (remember the quinine! We don’t want you
getting malaria on the beach)
Wedge of lime
Ice
Fill a Tom Collins glass with ice
Add Gin.
(Make sure your ice and glass are chilled)
Fill to rim with Tonic Water
Squeeze lime wedge to add a hint of flavor (If you want, you can also rim the
glass with lime juice or use the wedge as a garnish.)
There you have it! A perfect Gin and Tonic just the way Daniel Moretti and his
family would like it.
If you want to know more about Daniel, his family or his
romance with Charlotte Doherty, check out Penny’s review. Or, you can purchase Weekend Agreement
and read it yourself.
*******
Thanks, Barb, for this fun post! I loved Weekend Agreement and would heartily enjoy drinking any cocktail with Daniel Moretti. The whole preppy thing is taking me back to high school.....
Remember these shoes?
Ugh! Did we really think these were cool?
Happy Sloshy Sunday!
Penelope
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