The Intoxicating History of Gin

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/the-intoxicating-history-of-gin

by vo2maxer • 7 years ago

100 88 7 years ago

sandGorgon2• 7 years ago

From the outset, it was laced with memories, or myths, of imperial rule; what Schweppes first sold in 1870 was not just tonic water but “Indian Tonic Water,” and today, though besieged by an army of Fever-Tree tonics, it still holds considerable sway. The water is tonic because it contains quinine, which is anti-malarial—a lifesaver, if you happen to be invading or infesting a marshy foreign land.

Oh yes - gin and tonic should be rightfully considered India's national drink. Its what the British had to invent to not die.

onion2k2• 7 years ago

Its what the British had to invent to not die.

Exactly. G&T is essentially an important preventative medicine, and I should drink it more often so I won't get malaria here in the North East of the UK.

arethuza2• 7 years ago

G&T was the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted until I acquired a taste for it and now it is one of the nicest. Mind you for some reason my recollection of how I acquired a near-constant craving for G&T is somewhat blurry.

Edit: Note that I don't drink that often but even thinking about a G&T literally makes my mouth water.

jerrysievert• 7 years ago

a great recipe for your own tonic can be found here:

https://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/how-to-make-your-own-ton...

it's quite a good tonic when prepared correctly.

tptacek6• 7 years ago

There's an entire chapter in Arnold's Liquid Intelligence dedicated to his quest to perfect the G&T. It's an amazing book, highly, highly recommended.

Spoiler for the mere-mortal version: store your gin in the freezer, use a fresh bottle of tonic water stored on ice, serve in a highball glass (you're not well equipped enough to do his champagne flute version), 1 3/4 oz gin to 3 1/4 tonic --- measure the tonic by first measuring 5 oz of plain water into the glass, noting the water level, and free-pouring the tonic to that same level (jiggering the tonic loses too much carbonation).

tempguy9999• 7 years ago

"a drink that spoke more unfathomably to the deeps of the British soul than to that of other races"

Quite fathomable, we're a bunch of alcoholics (only partly joking).

#6 in this list of 33 countries (2015)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_c...

#25 in this list of 191 (2010 figures)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_c...

Nothing against booze (certainly not allergic to a G&T either) but we can go a bit OTT with it.

ukoki• 7 years ago

The Dollop podcast did a hilarious episode on the British Gin Craze recently: https://dollopengland.libsyn.com/10-the-gin-craze

Jedd6• 7 years ago

Regrettably I only properly discovered gin - via a Negroni - about 8 years ago.

Curiously TFA didn't dwell on advances & experiments in Australia, particularly the southern states, such as Tasmania, where there's been a some tremendous examples of the art.

Shene Poltergeist gin would bring into the fold even the most vehemently anti-g&t drinker. (Though mixing that with tonic would be a ghastly waste.)

Ophir (UK), St George Terroir (US), or Gin Mare (ES) are great places to start if you've historically just spurned the idea of gin.

mauvehaus2• 7 years ago

Do you have a preferred recipe for a Negroni? My partner and I have been having a hard time getting over the flavor of Campari.

We usually have Tanqueray in the house for G&Ts and Carpano in the house for Manhattans, but we've had no luck getting a drinkable Negroni.

To the uninitiated, I would describe Campari as having the flavor of burning tires. I don't mean that perjoratively, I just don't have a better description.

Or please feel free to inform me that our palates lack sufficient refinement :-D

mason55• 7 years ago

Standard Negroni is 1:1:1 and by far the best. Occasionally I’ll get one at a bar that I can tell is a different ratio and it’s so much worse.

moonbug• 7 years ago

Try Aperol instead.

jsmith99• 7 years ago

Dilute with extra gin.

buckhx2• 7 years ago

A negroni is equal parts Campari, Vermouth and Gin. Varying the brand of Vermouth or Gin has the biggest impact. Subbing out Campari makes it another cocktail. Should be swapped out for another Amaro (Herbally Bitter Liquer) such as Cynar, Gran Clasico or Brut Americano (never Aperol, too sweet). I'm partial to using Cynar (pronounced chee-nahr) which I've heard be called a Sin-Cyn (sin-chin).

You can also try swapping the gin for whiskey to make a boulvadier and see if that more to your liking as well.

jly• 7 years ago

It sounds like you don't like the bitterness of Campari and you're not alone in that. I guess it just takes time to develop the taste.

There are many delicious Negroni riffs, but the standard and classic is always equal parts gin/Campari/vermouth. I use a good London Dry gin (personal preference for Beefeater) and Carpano.

zacclark2• 7 years ago

Carpano (at least Carpano Antica, which I think it their common vermouth) is also a very strong flavor. IMO if you're doing equal parts gin/campari/carpano you're totally obliterating the gin flavor.

For a classic and smoother negroni, try:

- 1.5oz gin (Tanqueray is fine, but I'd recommend Ford's)

- 1oz campari

- 1oz sweeter, less intense vermouth like Contratto Rossi or Dolin Rouge

If you want to use your Carpano, I really like this negroni variation called a Kingston that uses rum:

- 1.5oz Smith and Cross rum

- 1oz Campari

- 1oz Carpano Antica

bytematic2• 7 years ago

I STRONGLY suggest doing it "built". 1/2oz Aperol, 1oz sweet vermouth, and 1.5oz gin. Aperol is a sweeter version of Campari that when used less of, really brings the gin more to the front of the drink

tptacek6• 7 years ago

The nice thing about the Negroni framework is that you can substitute a huge number of different things into it; you can swap Aperol for the Campari if you want the same overall character with less bitterness, or Cynar if the bitter works for you but the citrus doesn't. Or most amari; in fact, a Negroni is a pretty decent way to use all the weird amari you'll find if you go looking for them. Negronis are super versatile.

They're too sweet in the equal-parts recipe; bump up the gin.

bcbrown• 7 years ago

If you're interested in trying Campari in other settings in order to acquire a taste for it, I would suggest trying a Jasmine: http://drinkboy.com/Cocktails/Recipe.aspx?itemid=88

Jedd6• 7 years ago

As others have noted, without the Campari it's technically not a negroni - and you can try Aperol (makes it a Contessa), or being more faithful you could try another bitters.

Here in AU some bars make a fully Australian negroni, using local equivalents.

(Otherwise Most bars will use Cinzano as the default vermouth -- it's acceptable, but nothing special.)

Domestic versions of vermouth exist, eg. Margan in Broke, NSW make some delicious dry and sweet vermouths. Not common, though.

Same for bitters - there's the confusingly named 'The Italian', from the Adelaide Hills (South Australia) distillery, which is a magnificent take on bitters.

I'd suggest looking around for some imaginative variations local to your area, as there's a lot going on with these types of drinks lately (as per TFA). Great news for the sophisticated addict.

Or maybe go for some variations -- in addition to a Contessa (too sweet for me) you can look at the Hanky Panky, which is a delicious cocktail, and worth ordering just for the name.

mstade4• 7 years ago

All good suggestions. Also – the Martinez cocktail is another great initiation to gin, and my favorite of all cocktails. It's my goto benchmark drink as well, I've never been to a good bar that messed up my Martinez.

unethical_ban3• 7 years ago

I prefer St. George Botanivore, but I respect Terroir.

Also, Monkey 47 and Nolets for particularly floral gin. M47 is pricey, Nolets is almost as good for about half the price.

TylerE• 7 years ago

Botanist when you want ALL the favlors. And as a bonus it's 96 proof, too.

Jedd6• 7 years ago

I've only tried the Terroir, but heard there's three in the 'range'?

In Australia we're spoiled for variety with local products, but I'm guessing because of the pain of doing so, only the larger foreign distilleries export over to Australia, and presumably not their full ranges of spirits.

Will keep an eye out for Botanivore, in any case, as I'm quite taken with the Terroir.

2OEH8eoCRo0• 7 years ago

+1 for Terroir

Delightful gin right there.

mauvehaus2• 7 years ago

While we're on the subject of gin:

A martini is comprised of gin, vermouth and between 0 and 3 olives.

If there is no vermouth it isn't a "bone dry martini". It's just "a glass of cold gin".

The modifiers "perfect" and "dirty" are also permissible when applied to to a martini.

If it's made with vodka, not gin, it's a vodka martini.

Other concoctions served in a cocktail glass are just cocktails. Which are fine, but please don't co-opt the name "martini" because it sounds cosmopolitan.

Wait.

Shit.

arethuza2• 7 years ago

I have watched a barman prepare an oyster martini - which was about as odd to watch as it presumably was to drink.

wholepointofcc• 7 years ago

This actually sounds delicious, I'll get some oysters next Friday by the street market, thanks

jghn3• 7 years ago

If it has vodka instead of gin it’s not a vodka martini, it’s a kangaroo

coldtea• 7 years ago

nonsense, that's an animal

namdnay2• 7 years ago

To be pedantic, a martini is comprised of gin, vermouth, and the water from the ice. If you try making one without ice (e.g. with a freezer) it's too strong

easytiger2• 7 years ago

A lot of places in America serve room temperature non melted martinis. Pretty horrible.

tptacek6• 7 years ago

For more nerdy detail on this than you ever realized you wanted, see: http://cookingissues.com/index.html%3Fp=1527.html

crookshanked• 7 years ago

Adding to the fun, swap out olives for a cocktail onion and you have yourself a Gibson.

mstade4• 7 years ago

Incidentally, this is also the name of one of the best bars I know: http://thegibsonbar.london

The owner is the amazingly talented Marian Beke[1], whom I got to know while living in London and frequenting Nightjar, another fantastic establishment – in the same neighbourhood no less! If you're ever in the area, you should definitely go for a visit.

NB: Beyond being a bit of a drunkard, I have no affiliation with any of the above.

[1] https://www.diffordsguide.com/people/11764/bar-owner/marian-...

unethical_ban3• 7 years ago

I love Gibsons - I went through a phase about two years ago of ordering them at every bar I went to. It worked out, since I was doing a tour of cocktails bars in Manhattan.

wry_discontent• 7 years ago

Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel

I've found I really like the Vesper martini. It's more floral and refreshing than the traditional one

cgriswald• 7 years ago

I'm skeptical of a recipe that calls out its gin, but not its vodka, and also refers to a lemon twist as "a large thin slice of lemon peel." Not so skeptical that I won't try making it with several types of vodka. But skeptical nonetheless.

jkaptur• 7 years ago

Looking at the bottle of vermouth while stirring the gin provided enough vermouth for Churchill and it provides enough for me.

deadmetheny• 7 years ago

A solemn nod in the general direction of France is sufficient, and don't skimp on the olives.

mcguire3• 7 years ago

The horrors that man perpetrated on a whisk(e)y and soda....

buckhx2• 7 years ago

I thought just a glance towards France was enough for the ol' British Bulldog

chrisdhoover• 7 years ago

There is a great bracing joy in having an occasional classic proportioned martini. 4:1 with a splash of Regans. Stirred until completely cold and poured in an ice cold martini glass. It connects you with all the great martini drinkers of the past. For a moment you are sitting with Myrna Loy and William Powell engaged in carefree and sarcastic conversation all the while ignoring the depression gripping the country.

jl6• 7 years ago

As an outsider, this sounds like marketing material from alcohol vendors that their customers use to justify their drug use...

chrisseldo• 7 years ago

“Martinis are the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet.”

-H. L. Mencken

zer00eyz• 7 years ago

A long time ago I learned the saying:

The only things I ever did that I regret.... I did while drinking gin!

TheGallopedHigh• 7 years ago

BBC’s In our time podcast has a fascinating show on the Gin Crazy, paneled by 3 experts: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b084zk6z

slowhand09• 7 years ago

Love the article. Were I reading it last last night, it would be while sipping a Sapphire and tonic for sure. Learned much I did.

davidw2• 7 years ago

Where I live in Bend, Oregon there are tons of western junipers to the east of town in the "high desert". I chatted with a local distiller and apparently they don't use them for their gin, though. They import them from Italy of all places.

blahyawnblah• 7 years ago

Are western junipers not suited for making gin?

davidw2• 7 years ago

Guess that distillery doesn't prefer it. Other articles on line show people trying to use it with some success...

HeyLaughingBoy• 7 years ago

The taste must vary a lot. A few years back a friend of mine was experimenting with making his own liquors. I, having a bunch of juniper trees, got him some juniper berries. The resulting "gin" smelled amazing but tasted absolutely disgusting. My guess was that there are specific types of juniper berries that should be used.

bytematic2• 7 years ago

Gin and bourbon are my desert island spirits. I love how they are surging into the cocktail space and you can find both gin and whiskey exclusive bars all over (in wisconsin at least!). Lots are starting to barrel rest their gins which give it an oaky flavor reminiscent of whiskey. Monkey 47 is a favorite of mine which I drink straight, maybe with an ice cube. But some local gins here in Madison, WI do a really great job as well. Look out for "bartenders" edition gins from england, which generally are kicked up versions.

The Intoxicating History of Gin

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