The Life and Times of Gin and Tonic

gin and tonic may be the most interesting cocktail in the world but depending on who and when you ask might not be considered a cocktail at all but rather a medicinal elixir of staggering complexity consider gin is short for jennifer dutch for juniper as in berry the primary botanical or plant-based flavorant added to this clear grain spirit either during or sometimes after distillation when gin was first concocted in leiden holland around 1650 by a medical professor named of sylvus who believed that his did many of his peers that juniper could remedy a host of ills including kidney disorders blood problems and the plague now thanks to william of orange the dutchman who reigned over england with his wife and first cousin mary at the end of the 17th century jyn became more popular in england than in holland and several different styles emerged including london dry gin which delivers sharp up front juniper and contains very very very little sugar perfect for a gin and tonic if you ask me speaking of tonic if legend can be trusted just as sylvus was distilling his very first batches of gin in holland on the other side of the planet in peru in the new world countess anna de kinchon the wife of the viceroy of peru is in the process of coming down with malaria and the process is remarkably simple a female mosquito infected with a microscopic parasite called plasmodium bites you little nasties get into your blood go to your liver and then they just wreck all kinds of havoc now fearing that his wife would succumb the viceroy inquired of the local uh [Music] if there was a cure and they turned them on to the bark of a tree that they called the fever tree which was used as an anti-inflammatory and to treat the shakes and shivers accompanied by fevers now i wouldn't believe this story not one bit where not for the fact that now the official name of this tree is synchona same spelling as chinkona after the wife who was supposedly cured now various uh players including the jesuits caught on to the uh the power of this bark they actually called it holy bark and they brought it back to europe by the 19th century scientists had isolated the responsible chemical and alkaloid compound called quinine all right now various quinine tonics were then manufactured and it was these that allowed european expansion into southeast asia and africa this was especially true in india where the british east india company and later the british raj kept their soldiers pumped to the gills with the stuff problem is being an alkaloid quinine is unspeakably bitter in fact tonic makers tried to cover this up with flavorants and a lot of sugar but in a stroke of genius a british soldier whose name is lost to history decided to cut the uh the tonic with gin to make its effects more pleasant in the south where i live mosquitoes are a way of life and i wouldn't dare risk walking out of doors without a gin and tonic in my hand let's mix one shall we i begin with two jiggers of london dry gin it's really just a style represented by satinguray gordon's and my favorite beefeater 24 and no they do not pay me to say that as for tonic well that's even trickier than the gin consider this bottle of common grocery store tonic water it's mostly carbonated water and high fructose corn syrup crap now some small batch tonics have stepped up to the plate with better formulas that have better ingredients but i take a slightly different tack i like a tonic concentrate one [ __ ] of it now this one that i'm using is made one state away in charleston south carolina and it is a strong quinine and cane syrup that is flavored with lemongrass and citrus now mixing this way i really like it because it gives me complete control over the flavor and i don't have to worry about the bottle of tonic water going flat on me how many times have you had that happen all i have to do is add a couple of pieces of lime some ice and then top it off with just plain soda water and yes i like to use soda from my very very own siphon it's got plenty of fringe benefits which we'll see oh i should mention that with that a little bit of lime in there we're also protected from scurvy believe me you don't want to have to mess with that stuff oh absolutely delicious bracing biting and utterly refreshing remember america [Music] got the nasty bugger

Channel: Alton Brown

Views: 421,242

Rating: 4.9638896 out of 5

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Id: oXFfgK38npU

Length: 4min 58sec (298 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 15 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/red--jar]

That mosquito was real annoying

[u/[deleted]]

GnT is my goto summer cocktail. Everyone can make it, hard to fuck up, good bartenders/ingredients can make it taste great. Really good with something floral like Hendrick's.

[u/aaronod]

Is there the same boom for Gin in America as there is in the UK? Every bar in the UK now has huge array of gins to choose from much like you are used to seeing with whiskey.

[u/ragergage]

Alton Brown is the Dolly Parton of cooking

[u/RageCageJables]

I don’t like gin, and I don’t like tonic, but together they are delicious.

[u/HungryMoon]

GnT is good, but I'm more of a Tom Collins guy for my summer drink

[u/rculver9056]

Now I'm drinking London Dry gin and tonic with lime. FFS, Reddit!

[u/MeanEYE]

Ice after gin??? Sacrilege!

[u/Int_peacemaker35]

Some people call the “old fashioned” the king of cocktails, but G&T reigns supreme in my home bar. Now all I need to get is quinine syrup to try Alton’s elixir to taste the difference. For me 2 oz of your favorite gin, 3/4 oz of freshly squeezed lime juice, and fever tree will do wonders but I need to taste it the Alton way to see what is it that I’m missing