Made with one part gin, two parts tonic water, topped up with ice in a highball glass and garnished according to which gin you use, the Gin & Tonic is probably the easiest gin cocktail to make.
The drink was invented in 1870 by British sailors in Asia who found the taste of quinine (the cure for malaria, and an ingredient in tonic water) rather nasty, and so decided to mix gin with it to make it easier to drink.
According to Ash, this is a drink where the gin really makes a difference, as the bubbles in the tonic will bring up the flavours of the spirit.
To illustrate that point, Ash made three gin and tonics with three different gins – Tanqueray London Dry, Tanqueray Ten, and Hendrick’s Gin.
Sure enough, the overpowering flavour of the juniper of the Tanqueray London Dry Gin was very different from the sweet grapefruit flavours of the Tanqueray Ten, as well as the cucumber- and rose-infused Hendrick’s Gin. The garnish is also important because it helps accentuate the flavours of the different gins.
