The perect G&T?

[_jonte]

For the past five years or so I can not remember buying any other gin than Hendrick's. Although it is a fantastic gin at a reasonable price, some versatility would be nice. What other brands are out there that are worth trying?

Also, the tonic is important. I usually end up with Schweppes because it is the only kind they have at smaller super markets i Sweden. Some times I have bought different flavours of Fever Tree and a few others. I sometimes wish I had a tonic with a stronger kinin flavour. What are you preferring?

Cucumber, are there any variations?

Ice or no ice? I use a lot of ice.

(misspelled the heading, sorry...)

[mushk1n]

1/3 g'vine. 1/4 of a lemon. 2/3 schweppes.

I went to a gin bar in newcastle a couple months ago, tried about 10 different gins (ranging from 37.5% - 60%)... some were amazing and some not so much... sadly, I ended up completely hammered and couldn't remember what was what - back to square one, next time I'll take pen and paper!

If not using g'vine, I stick to fever trees (they do a nice elderflower version too).

[Captain Morgan]

seagrams gin, fentimans tonic water, slice of lime, Ice and retire to the Bullingdon Club.

[birchgra]

My theory is that if you buy good gin (like hendricks) then you should pair it with cheaper (but reasonable) tonics that don't obscure the subtle flavours that you get in quality gins. If, however, you buy cheaper gins (Gordons or cheaper), then using a quality tonic (like fever Tree) will enhance the drink as a whole.

[brownip]

Try The Botanist from the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, absolutely lovely. Made in small batches and slow distilled using the classic gin aromatics – orris root, cassia bark, coriander seed, etc and 22 local wild growing botanicals from Islay. It's good enough to be drunk on it's own with ice, but if drinking with tonic I'd go for the proportions mentioned above with a very thin slice of lime and Schweppes.

Cheers!

Ian

[Cynar]

I love a G&T and have tried many combinations of gins and tonics.
To be honest, I've enjoyed them all.
The only things I do insist on are lots of ice and a slice of lime. Never lemon.

[LuBee]

I'm a fan of hendricks but am going to try this next.

http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/prof...h/bathtub-gin/

[Foxy100]

This stuff:

http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product...29996011&dnr=y

Lemon or lime, ice, tonic of choice. Fever Tree is alright, so is Schweppes.

[oldandgrumpy]

I started to experiment this summer with different gins, which turned out to be boozy and expensive, with 3 or 4 bottles on the go - If I'd didn't like one particular brand, I'd get through it quickly to try something else. Of the mainstream offerings, Beefeater was surprisingly good, Tanqueray average (but disappointing), Bombay Sapphire made an awful G & T.

The complete surprise was Aldi's offering :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...slice-out.html


Thankfully for my wallet and body, the summer came to an end and I've switched to red wine

http://www.theginblog.co.uk/home/2011/09/bathtub-gin/

[_jonte]

I'm a fan of hendricks but am going to try this next.

http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/prof...h/bathtub-gin/

Good reviews on that one. Doesn't seem to be available in Sweden, but will be stopping at Schipol for a couple of hours in two weeks. Hopefully I can find it there. Can anybody confirm?

[_jonte]

Try The Botanist from the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, absolutely lovely. Made in small batches and slow distilled using the classic gin aromatics – orris root, cassia bark, coriander seed, etc and 22 local wild growing botanicals from Islay. It's good enough to be drunk on it's own with ice, but if drinking with tonic I'd go for the proportions mentioned above with a very thin slice of lime and Schweppes.

Cheers!

Ian

Will try that one. 20% cheaper than Hendrick's (in Sweden) too it seems, that's good!

[Tahiti]

Try The Botanist from the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, absolutely lovely. Made in small batches and slow distilled using the classic gin aromatics – orris root, cassia bark, coriander seed, etc and 22 local wild growing botanicals from Islay. It's good enough to be drunk on it's own with ice, but if drinking with tonic I'd go for the proportions mentioned above with a very thin slice of lime and Schweppes.

Cheers!

Ian

Agreed on The Botanist. I did a gin tasting recently and this was the favourite of the lot.

[Mr.D]

Try The Botanist from the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, absolutely lovely. Made in small batches and slow distilled using the classic gin aromatics – orris root, cassia bark, coriander seed, etc and 22 local wild growing botanicals from Islay. It's good enough to be drunk on it's own with ice, but if drinking with tonic I'd go for the proportions mentioned above with a very thin slice of lime and Schweppes.

Cheers!

Ian

Agree its awesome.

[_jonte]

My theory is that if you buy good gin (like hendricks) then you should pair it with cheaper (but reasonable) tonics that don't obscure the subtle flavours that you get in quality gins. If, however, you buy cheaper gins (Gordons or cheaper), then using a quality tonic (like fever Tree) will enhance the drink as a whole.

Interesting thinking. I must say I prefer Schweppes with Hendrick's over Fever Tree.

[andy tims]

1/3 g'vine. 1/4 of a lemon. 2/3 schweppes.

Lemon in G&T - How vulgar?

[mushk1n]

Lemon in G&T - How vulgar?

possibly. i like it, though.

[jwg663]

I saw a few worthies in a pub in Ayr drinking Hendricks, Nordic Mist tonic & a slice of cucumber. 35ml gin, a third of the little split of tonic &
the cucumber. I had a few & very nice they were too.

[_jonte]

I saw a few worthies in a pub in Ayr drinking Hendricks, Nordic Mist tonic & a slice of cucumber. 35ml gin, a third of the little split of tonic &
the cucumber. I had a few & very nice they were too.

I have actually never tried the Nordic Mist tonic. Will have to find me some bottles! :)

[jmarchitect]

I got shouted at once by a friend for the way I treated the Bombay Sapphire he had given me. I normally drink Gordon's but he felt he needed to educate me. So I prepared it the way I normally do- ice cubes in the glass, pour over three fingers of gin, cut a lime into quarters, squeeze one quarter into the gin and drop the squeezed quarter in, top up with tonic- generally Schweppes and give it all a quick stir. He told me off because he felt the lime and tonic would overpower the gin and instead suggested I drink the gin with ice only. I tried it that way but couldn't get on with it.

[funkstar]

It is all in the mixing:

[MattMM]

I saw a few worthies in a pub in Ayr drinking Hendricks, Nordic Mist tonic & a slice of cucumber. 35ml gin, a third of the little split of tonic &
the cucumber. I had a few & very nice they were too.

Hendricks is actually a local brew in Ayrshire, it's made in the Grants distillery in Girvan about 20 miles south of Ayr. I've had guys visit my plant nearby who've asked if they've a factory shop where they can buy Hendricks for their significant others. Unfortunately not however.

[bambam]

We've become massive fans of Brecon gin in the last year or so - lovely stuff made in Wales. Really clean, refreshing taste. Normally served with Schweppes tonic and a slice of lime and slice of lemon, and ice.

Fabulous!

[dufus53]

[Caruso]

More GT£ than G&T.

[Bernouls]

Is that an XKE? My father drove one when I was young. The picture looks familiar but is there some customization?

[Carlton-Browne]

Just been going through some old pictures and found this, taken in Leh, which was surprisingly palatable and just a fraction over a pound a bottle. The things you do to ward off malaria though I think we would probably need to find some tonic to do that.

[dufus53]

No my friend, this is a Ferrari GTB...not sure of the exact model.

Is that an XKE? My father drove one when I was young. The picture looks familiar but is there some customization?

[KurtKlaus]

Been on the gin for years. Long before it was back en vogue. Have tried all supermarket and many boutique gins. Plymouth is still my favourite. Tanqueray 10 is pretty nice as well.

2 fingers of Plymouth. No ice. No tonic.

:cheers

[Jim W]

In a pub I drink beer.
At home I like a G&T , but only at home, never in a pub, I don't like the way they pour them - barely enough to get the glass wet.

I was in Spain last week, and in the bars there they put in some ice, then 'up-end' a Gin bottle so there's barely enough room for the Tonic.
That's the way to do it.

[stuie-t]

Bombay sapphire, schweppes tonic, ice and lime make the perfect G&T for me. Occasionally add a dash of angostura bitters

[GIB984]

Bombay sapphire, schweppes tonic, ice and lime make the perfect G&T for me.

Exactly this but of late I've shifted across to Vodka but still do like the odd G&T - my head tends to hurt less with Vodka though.

[Batteries Not Included]

Has anyone tried Boe gin? Its Scottish and bloody lovely.

[_jonte]

How about tonics with more kinin flavour?

[spud]

Plymouth Navy Strength is good. No ice, no fruit and whatever tonic water is in the fridge!

[Acky]

Lots of Ice (not crushed, not cubes, that small stuff they do it posh bars) Lots of Bombay Sapphire, juice of half a lime, slice of lemon and lime and a bit of full fat tonic = job done!

[trisdg]

Plymouth.

Failing that, No.3 or Beefeater.

If you're lucky you can still find old bottles of Plymouth in corner shops selling it for about £18. All the supermarkets now only have the new branded bottles which are about £26.



Tris

[Scepticalist]

Plymouth.

Failing that, No.3 or Beefeater.

If you're lucky you can still find old bottles of Plymouth in corner shops selling it for about £18. All the supermarkets now only have the new branded bottles which are about £26.


Tris

Yeh Plymouth used to be a hidden gem - 40% and one of the best tasting mixing gins on the market at a great price. As far as I can tell due to the popularity of gin they thought a bottle/label redesign was worth another £6 a bottle.....

[paw3001]

Have tried a number of different gins over the years including Hendricks which is a favourite but the one that does it for me is:

Sipsmith gin 50-70mls, tall glass lots of ice and slice of lime and then a small bottle of Fever Tree light.

A very flavourful tipple which is less sweet and lighter than using the full fat tonic

[Wexford]

Another big vote for Plymouth Navy and Fever Tree. A great combination, just add ice and a slice

[notenoughwrists]

Nobody mentioned so far, but rim the glass with the lime first? (he said rim...)
- I had a gordons rep come to out pub and teach how to make a "proper" g&t.
wedge of lime, whizz it around the glass rim - she even brought special Gordon's
glasses that were ridged at points to tear the lime.
always done it that way since then, irrespective of gin or tonic brands.
for me, it's lots of ice, lots of gin, lots of lime. Big glass (a pint of g&t is the mans version!)

[I AM LATE!]

Plymouth, The Botanist, Martin Millers and the London No1 are all excellent, but will regularly drink Bombay and Tanq. An Amsterdam Gin called Damrack if you can ever find it is also ver good.

Tonic from Fevertree and Club Royal are both great.

My mix is close to 1:3, ice, the larger the better as it melts slower and does not dilute the mix as much, and then a slice of lime.

[Broussard]

A lot depends on the flavour profile of the gin, and as the definition of gin continues to broaden (Hoxton = predominantly coconut; Opihr = more cardamon; Whitley Neill = boabab / cape gooseberry) then I think you're going to see a few more people drinking it neat / over ice, or with other/different/new mixers, rather than just tonic. The fact that Fever Tree and others have widened their Tonic Water offerings tends to support this, as well as the nascent industry in quinine cordials. What almost everyone agrees upon is ice; gin is rarely drunk at room temperature.

[MerlinShepherd]

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.

What can be made of this fact? It exists in total isolation. As far as any theory of structural linguistics is concerned it is right off the graph, and yet it persists. Old structural linguists get very angry when young structural linguists go on about it. Young structural linguists get deeply excited about it and stay up late at night convinced that they are very close to something of profound importance, and end up becoming old structural linguists before their time, getting very angry with the young ones. Structural linguistics is a bitterly divided and unhappy discipline, and a large number of its practitioners spend too many nights drowning their problems in Ouisghian Zodahs.

Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe​

[Andyp1973]

If your after something a bit different. Quite a unique taste. Hits the spot though.

[Carlton-Browne]

I've enjoyed reading this thread. I find the more aromatic gins, while excellent for Martinis don't really cut through the tonic (Bombay and Tanqueray 10). I agree that slimline tonic is awful - at one point it was all that was available when visiting my parents and I remember reading one of those Telegraph social stereotypes pieces where the elderly gentleman made a gin & slimline and then always topped the drink off with an extra splash of gin which sort of defeated the whole point. I did 2 years of this before putting my foot down and insisting on full-fat.

My normal choice is standard Tanqueray but I'm not adverse to standard Gordon's though I hate the company for reducing the alcohol content and pocketing the difference.

At the end of the day we're talking about a longdrink - i may be completely mistaken bit I wonder whether people would have similar conversations about not inexpensive whiskies and what mixer they put in them **shudder**.

Lime for me.

[jwg663]

Anybody care to comment on the Dutch "Genevers" (I've only ever had Bols ) & the Minorcan "Xoriguer"?

[gamingdave]

Ratio wise it's normally 2:3 gin to tonic ratio over a lot of big chunks of ice. It's either with a wipe of lemon or lime (I like both, but not at the same time) round the rim and then a dunk, or its angostura bitters. Every now and then I may skip the fruit or bitters and add a dash of elderflower liqueur, but then its not really a G&T anymore.

Gin wise I like all sorts, with Tanqueray being a staple in the cupboard along with Gordons. I know a lot of people turn their nose up at Gordons as its (relatively) cheap but it really does make a good G&T.

Tonic wise I like to stick to something simple, so Schweppes is the normal go to. Whilst other more uniquely flavoured tonics can make a lovely drink, I find it less of the taste I am looking for (or maybe it's just I like what I am used to).

My favourite though is Xoriguer from Menorca. Last time I was there a couple of years ago I was introduced to it. I asked the barman for something local and that's what he recommended. I tried it neat first, and it was lovely, and then spent the rest of the holiday drinking it with bitter lemon as the locals do. Their bitter lemon is neither as bitter nor fizzy as Schweppes and it made for a superb summer cooler. I bought a load of bottles back, at €7 for a litre it was rude not too!

If you like your G&T with cucumber in it then a mate gave me a great tip. Peel a cucumber then cut into 3/4 inch chunks, place in a bag and freeze. They don't take much longer than water to freeze, and you will always have some on hand. Dropped into your G&T they start to release flavour instantly and have the bonus of adding a really nice splash of colour.

[Broussard]

My favourite though is Xoriguer from Menorca. Last time I was there a couple of years ago I was introduced to it. I asked the barman for something local and that's what he recommended. I tried it neat first, and it was lovely, and then spent the rest of the holiday drinking it with bitter lemon as the locals do. Their bitter lemon is neither as bitter nor fizzy as Schweppes and it made for a superb summer cooler. I bought a load of bottles back, at €7 for a litre it was rude not too!

:thumbup:

As a kid, I used to drink gin and Gini. I wonder if you can still get it?

[Caruso]

Of the supermarket brands I'm a fan of Blackwood's.

[gamingdave]

:thumbup:

As a kid, I used to drink gin and Gini. I wonder if you can still get it?

I have vague memories of that, maybe from childhood holidays (the Gini that is, not with gin). I haven't found a suitable substitute in the UK but I would describe it as a lemon equivalent to Orangina in that its not overly fruity and more effervescent than fizzy. It definitely has a bitter edge to it but it's nowhere as sharp as Schweppes, maybe cutting that with soda water would work?

I thought I had drunk my last bottle of the Xoriguer then I realised I had a decanter full. Going to try and make it last as it's not as cheap online!