Dry my gin out
June 22, 2015 8:54 PM Subscribe
I've recently returned to gin and tonics but in my time off from this old favorite I've quit sugar. Now G+Ts are just too damn sweet. I tried moving over to a better tonic (Fever Tree Tonic Water) and although nicer in general, it's still just too sugary. So gin drinkers of MeFi, what do you mix with your dry gin to keep it dry and refreshing ideally with that bitter quinine type flavor? Is there a less sweet tonic water around? Other mixers? Other simple cocktail recipes with non-obscure ingredients? Thanks!
make a dirty martini with artisanal bitters and digestives.
posted by ohshenandoah at 9:03 PM on June 22, 2015
posted by ohshenandoah at 9:03 PM on June 22, 2015
Can't vouch for it personally, but this looks up your alley.
posted by kickingtheground at 9:05 PM on June 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by kickingtheground at 9:05 PM on June 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
I've seen diet tonic water.
posted by brujita at 9:06 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by brujita at 9:06 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
SodaStream + a tiny, tiny bit of tonic syrup.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:09 PM on June 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:09 PM on June 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
I've seen diet tonic water.
Trust me on this...you do not want to do that. The artificial sweetener conspires with the quinine to make a very unpalatable flavor.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:13 PM on June 22, 2015 [18 favorites]
Trust me on this...you do not want to do that. The artificial sweetener conspires with the quinine to make a very unpalatable flavor.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:13 PM on June 22, 2015 [18 favorites]
You might like a Gimlet.
Also, making your own tonic water is pretty easy thanks to the internet, or you local hippy-herb shop. I personally like this recipe, but I cut the sugar in half anyways.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:21 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, making your own tonic water is pretty easy thanks to the internet, or you local hippy-herb shop. I personally like this recipe, but I cut the sugar in half anyways.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:21 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Gin and tonic is always going to be too sweet, whether the tonic brand is Fever Tree or Canada Dry or Q.
You really want to savor dry gin? Just make a martini. I don't care if you've had them before and didn't like them — you can improve on them. Use about 1 part dry vermouth to 3 parts gin, which is less dry than most bars make it. Pour it over cracked ice in a cocktail shaker. Add a few drops of orange bitters. Stir or shake (either is fine), then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Peel a lemon with a Y-peeler, squeeze the essence into the martini, rub the peel along the rim of the glass, and drop it in.
Using good brands will make all the difference. For vermouth, I recommend Dolin (better than Noilly Prat). For the bitters, I recommend The Bitter Truth (better than Regan's). And of course, the brand of gin will have a decisive effect — I recommend Martin Miller's (better than Hendrick's), Greylock (better than Bombay Sapphire), Warwick (better than Beefeater), or Tanqueray No. 10 (better than regular Tanqueray). For a real treat, try Citadelle Reserve gin (not regular Citadelle) — it's distilled in Cognac casks.
posted by John Cohen at 9:27 PM on June 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
You really want to savor dry gin? Just make a martini. I don't care if you've had them before and didn't like them — you can improve on them. Use about 1 part dry vermouth to 3 parts gin, which is less dry than most bars make it. Pour it over cracked ice in a cocktail shaker. Add a few drops of orange bitters. Stir or shake (either is fine), then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Peel a lemon with a Y-peeler, squeeze the essence into the martini, rub the peel along the rim of the glass, and drop it in.
Using good brands will make all the difference. For vermouth, I recommend Dolin (better than Noilly Prat). For the bitters, I recommend The Bitter Truth (better than Regan's). And of course, the brand of gin will have a decisive effect — I recommend Martin Miller's (better than Hendrick's), Greylock (better than Bombay Sapphire), Warwick (better than Beefeater), or Tanqueray No. 10 (better than regular Tanqueray). For a real treat, try Citadelle Reserve gin (not regular Citadelle) — it's distilled in Cognac casks.
posted by John Cohen at 9:27 PM on June 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
How about a gin rickey? Gin, lime, soda. The more talented mixologists do this:
Take the glass, swipe all around the inside with the lime peel.
Put in the gin. (2/3)
Put in the soda. (1/3)
Swoosh the lime all around the rim of the glass, then place it on the rim.
Stir briefly.
posted by jet_silver at 9:34 PM on June 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
Take the glass, swipe all around the inside with the lime peel.
Put in the gin. (2/3)
Put in the soda. (1/3)
Swoosh the lime all around the rim of the glass, then place it on the rim.
Stir briefly.
posted by jet_silver at 9:34 PM on June 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
Quinine syrup, but cut the sugar down to a half or quarter (it'll make a thinner syrup, but that's not a big deal).
posted by Lyn Never at 9:35 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Lyn Never at 9:35 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
My drink is, depending on my mood, either "Gin and soda with lots of lime" or "Gin and soda with a splash of bitters." No bartender has ever gotten it wrong. Super easy, and way better than Gin and Tonics, which are too sweet for me, too.
posted by JuliaIglesias at 9:39 PM on June 22, 2015
posted by JuliaIglesias at 9:39 PM on June 22, 2015
My drink is generally Gin and soda with as much bitters as the bartender will grant me and a lime wedge. It's a bit decadent, and assembling four elements pushes it into the territory where some bartenders get annoyed.
posted by wotsac at 9:56 PM on June 22, 2015
posted by wotsac at 9:56 PM on June 22, 2015
Hendricks rocks with -- wait for it -- cucumber.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:56 PM on June 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:56 PM on June 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
A little Campari will bring some of that quinine bitterness but without the extra sweetness of tonic; bubble it up with plain soda water if you like. And it's pretty.
posted by rtha at 9:58 PM on June 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by rtha at 9:58 PM on June 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
on diet tonic
Trust me on this...you do not want to do that. The artificial sweetener conspires with the quinine to make a very unpalatable flavor.
There are multiple kinds. Some do not have aspartame in them and are not horrible.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:58 PM on June 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Trust me on this...you do not want to do that. The artificial sweetener conspires with the quinine to make a very unpalatable flavor.
There are multiple kinds. Some do not have aspartame in them and are not horrible.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:58 PM on June 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Tonic syrup, added sparingly (say, a bar spoon) then topped up with sparkling/soda/seltzer water, the fizzier the better: the syrups available these days really do take away a lot of the (literal) stickiness of the typical G&T.
For bonus points, don't serve it in a highball or worse, a rocks glass: put it in pint glass with a lot of cracked ice.
posted by holgate at 10:32 PM on June 22, 2015
For bonus points, don't serve it in a highball or worse, a rocks glass: put it in pint glass with a lot of cracked ice.
posted by holgate at 10:32 PM on June 22, 2015
A pink gin (gin plus bitters) plus lime-infused mineral water (Crystal Geyser or another similar brand) is my go-to for this!
I actually like diet tonic, and using frozen berries in place of ice can drown out the artificial-sweetener aftertaste some. I personally don't mind it, but I have a high tolerance for that diet-ish flavor.
Lately I have been experimenting with drinking vinegars and shrub mixes, which are flavored vinegars you're meant to put in soda, which are sweet but not intensely so. You might also like gin and Campari or a Negroni if you like bitter.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:37 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I actually like diet tonic, and using frozen berries in place of ice can drown out the artificial-sweetener aftertaste some. I personally don't mind it, but I have a high tolerance for that diet-ish flavor.
Lately I have been experimenting with drinking vinegars and shrub mixes, which are flavored vinegars you're meant to put in soda, which are sweet but not intensely so. You might also like gin and Campari or a Negroni if you like bitter.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:37 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Make your own tonic!!!
It is so satisfying. Follow Jeffery Morgenthaler's recipe, it's great, I've done it many times:
1 cup chopped lemongrass (roughly one large stalk)
¼ cup powdered cinchona bark
zest and juice of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tsp whole allspice berries
¼ cup citric acid
¼ tsp Kosher salt
Notice there is no sugar! You just boil it in 4 cups of water for about 20 minutes, then strain. Then: make a simple syrup. It's 1 part sugar to 1 part water, by volume (or by weight!). Use hot water to make the sugar dissolve into the water better.
Then?
Gin / tonic / sugar water / soda water
To taste.
Figure out what your desired booze to bitter to sweet profile. Then write it down, because likely you'll have enough of them to start forgetting real quick.
posted by special agent conrad uno at 1:35 AM on June 23, 2015 [6 favorites]
It is so satisfying. Follow Jeffery Morgenthaler's recipe, it's great, I've done it many times:
1 cup chopped lemongrass (roughly one large stalk)
¼ cup powdered cinchona bark
zest and juice of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tsp whole allspice berries
¼ cup citric acid
¼ tsp Kosher salt
Notice there is no sugar! You just boil it in 4 cups of water for about 20 minutes, then strain. Then: make a simple syrup. It's 1 part sugar to 1 part water, by volume (or by weight!). Use hot water to make the sugar dissolve into the water better.
Then?
Gin / tonic / sugar water / soda water
To taste.
Figure out what your desired booze to bitter to sweet profile. Then write it down, because likely you'll have enough of them to start forgetting real quick.
posted by special agent conrad uno at 1:35 AM on June 23, 2015 [6 favorites]
Hendricks rocks with -- wait for it -- cucumber.
At our house: and coarsely ground black pepper on the rocks. To be clear we use tonic also; not straight gin. I mash the hell out of the cucumber into the gin and strain it and then add a nice looking bit of cucumber as a garnish.
You also might consider ditching this whole thing though and switching to martinis.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:24 AM on June 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
At our house: and coarsely ground black pepper on the rocks. To be clear we use tonic also; not straight gin. I mash the hell out of the cucumber into the gin and strain it and then add a nice looking bit of cucumber as a garnish.
You also might consider ditching this whole thing though and switching to martinis.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:24 AM on June 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
I love Fever Tree (I drink it straight). However, Fentimans is quite different and is what my girlfriend prefers.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 4:01 AM on June 23, 2015
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 4:01 AM on June 23, 2015
Another vote for getting/making your own tonic syrup. My personal favorite is Jack Rudy's. For you I'd cut back just a tad on their recommended amount of tonic in G&T (you may find it a bit sweet), but that just means it'd last longer.
I wasn't a fan of Q tonic water, but a lot of people like it and I think it was less sweet and more herbal. May be worth a shot if you can find it easily.
posted by ghost phoneme at 6:14 AM on June 23, 2015
I wasn't a fan of Q tonic water, but a lot of people like it and I think it was less sweet and more herbal. May be worth a shot if you can find it easily.
posted by ghost phoneme at 6:14 AM on June 23, 2015
Half soda, half tonic, sometimes known as a "sonic". It's how I drink my tall vodkas when I'm not in the mood for a martini.
posted by janey47 at 6:31 AM on June 23, 2015
posted by janey47 at 6:31 AM on June 23, 2015
How about infusing the gin? Tea infusions are both easy and delicious and flavors like earl grey or green tea balance out the sweetness of the tonic. I usually steep two tablespoons loose leaf tea per cup of gin in a mason jar for 2-12 hours.
posted by fox problems at 6:50 AM on June 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by fox problems at 6:50 AM on June 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Whatever you do, don't go to England and order a gin & tonic, as the tonic water over there (generally sold as Indian Tonic Water) is even sweeter than its US counterpart.
Anyway: I don't think there's an unsweetened tonic water preparation available anywhere, but as people have pointed out it's easy to make your own. You can buy quinine powder, which is colorless, but you can also use cinchona bark, which results in a reddish tonic water. If the color doesn't bother you, tonic water made from cinchona bark is much more flavorful.
The driest long drink with gin is the Rickey. Squeeze half a lime into a wine goblet and drop the shell into the glass (if you have wine goblets, just use a highball glass). Add ice and two ounces gin. Top with soda.
In your case I would discourage the Gimlet idea, since a proper Gimlet is made with lime cordial, and the standard is Rose's Lime, which is very heavily sweetened. "You cannot make a proper gimlet without lime cordial any more than you could substitute lime cordial for fresh lime juice in a daiquiri or margarita." (That article provides a recipe for a fresh lime cordial to use as an alternative to Rose's, but still, the idea is that it's sweetened).
Also if you make a Martini, always stir it (despite what Nick Charles may have told you, shaking a Martini is not OK). Shaking doesn't affect the flavor but it does affect the texture and clarity. A stirred Martini has a particularly smooth character that is lost when it's been shaken. After twisting the lemon over the top and wiping the edge, all the bartenders I know here in DC (which is many of them) discard the twist instead of dropping it in the drink.
But if you enjoy quinine flavor and want more of it in your life, you should investigate the category of fortified wines known as quinquina. Brands include Cocchi Americano (and its sister product Cocchi Rosa), Lillet, and Dubonnet. Lillet has the least quinine flavor according to Vermouth 101, and Dubonnet's classic variety is red, not white, so you might want to start with Cocchi Americano. You can sub it for the vermouth in a martini, or make a Negroni Bianco, or experiment with using it instead of tonic syrup along with gin and soda water. For extra credit, try Bonal, which is flavored with cinchona and gentian and thus even more bitter and complex than just a simple hit of quinine.
posted by fedward at 7:00 AM on June 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
Anyway: I don't think there's an unsweetened tonic water preparation available anywhere, but as people have pointed out it's easy to make your own. You can buy quinine powder, which is colorless, but you can also use cinchona bark, which results in a reddish tonic water. If the color doesn't bother you, tonic water made from cinchona bark is much more flavorful.
The driest long drink with gin is the Rickey. Squeeze half a lime into a wine goblet and drop the shell into the glass (if you have wine goblets, just use a highball glass). Add ice and two ounces gin. Top with soda.
In your case I would discourage the Gimlet idea, since a proper Gimlet is made with lime cordial, and the standard is Rose's Lime, which is very heavily sweetened. "You cannot make a proper gimlet without lime cordial any more than you could substitute lime cordial for fresh lime juice in a daiquiri or margarita." (That article provides a recipe for a fresh lime cordial to use as an alternative to Rose's, but still, the idea is that it's sweetened).
Also if you make a Martini, always stir it (despite what Nick Charles may have told you, shaking a Martini is not OK). Shaking doesn't affect the flavor but it does affect the texture and clarity. A stirred Martini has a particularly smooth character that is lost when it's been shaken. After twisting the lemon over the top and wiping the edge, all the bartenders I know here in DC (which is many of them) discard the twist instead of dropping it in the drink.
But if you enjoy quinine flavor and want more of it in your life, you should investigate the category of fortified wines known as quinquina. Brands include Cocchi Americano (and its sister product Cocchi Rosa), Lillet, and Dubonnet. Lillet has the least quinine flavor according to Vermouth 101, and Dubonnet's classic variety is red, not white, so you might want to start with Cocchi Americano. You can sub it for the vermouth in a martini, or make a Negroni Bianco, or experiment with using it instead of tonic syrup along with gin and soda water. For extra credit, try Bonal, which is flavored with cinchona and gentian and thus even more bitter and complex than just a simple hit of quinine.
posted by fedward at 7:00 AM on June 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
Lillet blanc and gin. The Lillet is a floral apertif with quinine. You might even want to use Cocchi Americano, which has more of that addictive bitter quinine taste to it. It's James Bond's other cocktail of choice, apparently.
Or order a gin-gin mule... Gin with ginger beer. Ideally one with a lot of bite. Goes well with a wedge of lime, I find.
posted by markkraft at 8:24 AM on June 23, 2015
Or order a gin-gin mule... Gin with ginger beer. Ideally one with a lot of bite. Goes well with a wedge of lime, I find.
posted by markkraft at 8:24 AM on June 23, 2015
Have you considered shrubs? Not being too sweet is one of their selling points, and they make great mixers.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 10:28 AM on June 23, 2015
posted by a fiendish thingy at 10:28 AM on June 23, 2015
Ice. It's really all you need.
posted by TheCoug at 9:31 PM on June 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TheCoug at 9:31 PM on June 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by WidgetAlley at 9:00 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]