Gin and tonic is a classic cocktail that has been around since the early 1800s. The origins of the drink are a bit murky, but the most popular story is that it was invented in India by British soldiers as a way to ward off malaria.
The soldiers mixed their daily ration of gin with quinine, a bitter compound found in the bark of the cinchona tree, which is known for its anti-malarial properties. The quinine was mixed with water, sugar, and lime to make the tonic and then combined with gin to make the Gin and Tonic.
Its popularity spread back to Britain and Europe, and eventually to the United States.
Today, the Gin and Tonic is a favorite at bars and parties. It's easy to make, and there are countless variations. You can mix different types of gin, use flavored tonic waters, and add other ingredients like fresh fruit or herbs.
As for us, we are interested in its non-alcoholic version.
Non-alcoholic Gin and Tonic recipe
The classic recipe of the alcoholic Gin and Tonic suggests that for 3 parts of gin, we need 4 parts of tonic.
In the 0% version, the proportions differ radically - for 5 parts of tonic, there is only 1 part of non-alcoholic gin. Why is that? If in the classical version, the priority is to balance properly taste and alcohol level, for us the most important task is to reproduce the aromatics. Since there are no spirits in the drink, the juniper flavor is much more aggressive, and too much gin will make you feel like you're chewing on a pine cone.
The perfect formula for me personally is the following:
250 ml tonic
50 ml non-alcoholic gin (I would recommend Tanqueray 0,0%)
Lemon Peel Curl
A sprig of rosemary
4 ice cubes.
Your non-alcoholic Gin and Tonic can get even better if while preparing ice for it you will add some lemon juice to the ice water. In this case, the cocktail taste will develop while the ice is melting.
In general, having mixed, probably, a few dozen different mocktails, I have deduced for them one common important principle - in no case should they be allowed to warm up to room temperature. When heated, sugars become sharper, and the elegance in taste is replaced by a rough cloying of bad sodas.