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A gin and tonic is a highball cocktail made with gin and tonic water poured over ice. It is usually garnished with a slice or wedge of lime, lemon or cucumber.
The amount of gin varies according to taste. Suggested ratios of gin-to-tonic water are 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 2:3. We suggest using our pHenomenal Tonic syrup in the following ratios: 1 part Syrup to 5 parts sparkling water, mixed with 1-3 parts gin to your liking.
Gin and Tonic was introduced by the army of the British East India Company in India, where malaria was a persistent problem.
Already around 1550 it was discovered that chinchona bark could be used to treat the disease, although the bitter taste of the quinine was seriously unpleasant.
British officers in India in the early 19th century took to adding a mixture of water, sugar, lime and gin to the quinine in order to make the drink more palatable. Since it is no longer used as an antimalarial, tonic water today contains much less quinine, is usually sweetened, and is consequently much less bitter.
It has been said that the flavor of the quinine complements the green notes of the gin, much as dry vermouth complements the gin in a classic martini.
Because of its historical connection with warm climates, gin and tonic is a popular cocktail during the warmer months.
The transgalactic nature of the gin and tonic is discussed in Douglas Adams’ novel The Hitchhiker's guide through the galaxy:
“It is a curious fact, and one to which no one knows quite how much importance to attach, that something like 85% of all known worlds in the Galaxy, be they primitive or highly advanced, have invented a drink called jynnan tonnyx, or gee-N’N-T’N-ix, or jinond-o-nicks, or any one of a thousand or more variations on the same phonetic theme. The drinks themselves are not the same, and vary between the Sivolvian “chinanto/mnigs” which is ordinary water served at slightly above room temperature, and the Gagrakackan “tzjin-anthony-ks” which kills cows at a hundred paces; and in fact the one common factor between all of them, beyond the fact that the names sound the same, is that they were all invented and named before the worlds concerned made contact with any other worlds.”