Gin and Tonic

True novice here. I've never made one. Not even sure I've ever ordered one. 
 

So, what's the mix ratio for a decent gin and tonic?  (My friend likes them, and I wouldn't mind learning how to make a good one)

The thing about Fever Tree is that there are so many variations. Of the unflavored versions I prefer the Mediterranean to the Indian. Some of the flavored versions are nice for a change of pace: Aromatic (seemingly discontinued) and Elderflower are tasty. Their Ginger Beer is also good.

Another thing I forgot to mention earlier: bitters. Of the commonly available stuff, Peychaud's is good (and also mimics the Aromatic Tonic flavor profile). Right now I'm mildly obsessed with the rosemary, grapefruit, and peppercorn bitters from Crude, which add a nice savory complexity.

In reply to SV reX :

I like 2 oz gin to ~5 oz tonic water. Fever tree does little cans that work well for that.

It doesn't really help Tuna and his carb avoidance, but I also quite like the Barcelona-style Gintonic, which for the same 2 oz gin is larger, going with (as I interpret it) the full 7 oz of a bottle of tonic, a lot of ice, some bitters and most of a fruit salad if you've got it. My favorite is to use the Elderflower Fever Tree tonic, 2-3 dashes of Fee Brothers grapefruit bitters, and a couple slices each of lime, lemon, and some kind of orange. A few frozen berries are nice, too.

SV reX said:

True novice here. I've never made one. Not even sure I've ever ordered one. 
 

So, what's the mix ratio for a decent gin and tonic?  (My friend likes them, and I wouldn't mind learning how to make a good one)

Anything from 1:1-1:3 with a slice of lime as a garnish.

Apparently it's not listed on "List of IBA official cocktails."

But a Gin Fizz is. 

SV reX said:

True novice here. I've never made one. Not even sure I've ever ordered one. 
 

So, what's the mix ratio for a decent gin and tonic?  (My friend likes them, and I wouldn't mind learning how to make a good one)

The proportion that tastes best to you.

Depends on how potent the gin is, how potent the tonic is, and how you like those flavors in proportion.

I typically do about ~2oz gin : ~3oz tonic. I like the gin to come through more. 1:2 gin to tonic is common for me as well.

I'd wager most people are doing around 1:3 gin to tonic.

Have we discussed vodka tonics, too? 

As far as ratios, for me:

Ice

Vodka/gin

Fever Tree to top

I don't measure yet it always seems to perfectly fill the glass.

Beer Baron said:

SV reX said:

True novice here. I've never made one. Not even sure I've ever ordered one. 
 

So, what's the mix ratio for a decent gin and tonic?  (My friend likes them, and I wouldn't mind learning how to make a good one)

The proportion that tastes best to you.

Depends on how potent the gin is, how potent the tonic is, and how you like those flavors in proportion.

I typically do about ~2oz gin : ~3oz tonic. I like the gin to come through more. 1:2 gin to tonic is common for me as well.

I'd wager most people are doing around 1:3 gin to tonic.

I pour the gin first to a spot on my cup, it ends up being something like 1:2 gin:tonic, then squeeze half a lemon and two cubes of ice. Toss in the lemon rind. Repeat as necessary.

I normally do Bombay Sapphire, Q tonic (or really any tonic water), 2 slices of lime and a splash of elderflower liquer. It's the perfect G&T. 

In reply to Katie Suddard :

Elderflower liquer is a really good idea.

Creme de violet is also really good. We did a nice low-alcohol cocktail at the bar that was tonic, creme de violet, and [something else... lime juice?].

In reply to Beer Baron :

Creme de Violet is way better than I'd anticipated. Not low-alcohol, but I'm a big fan of the Aviation (2 oz gin, 0.75 oz lemon juice, 0.5 oz maraschino liqeur, 0.25 oz creme de violet).

When I brought that bottle home from the liquor store, I was pretty sure I had just wasted some money and was cluttering up the cabinet.

Okay, gonna give Fever Tree another shot.

My main beef with it was not wanting to pay the price for a 4-pack of glass bottles. I can now buy an 8 pack of cans for the same price as Q Tonic. I'll see how that compares now.

In reply to Beer Baron :

Put me down as another fan of Fever Tree. Totally makes the drink. 

Didn't have the Q Tonic to do a side by side with the Fever Tree, but I think I know the flavor profile of it well enough to compare.

The Fever Tree has a deeper, earthier flavor. Sort of ruddier.

I found it did not taste that great mixed with my Botanical Gin, but I really like how it mixed with my London Dry gin.

So, if you're doing Bombay Saphire, Hendrick's, modern craft gin that is more botanical, Q is better. If you're doing Beefeater, Tanqueray, or another London Dry style, the Fever Tree is better.

However, I think the Q with London Dry is better than Fever Tree with Botanical.

More experiments must be performed. For science.

For science!!

Just don't take advantage of me, Cameron 

SV reX said:

True novice here. I've never made one. Not even sure I've ever ordered one. 
 

So, what's the mix ratio for a decent gin and tonic?  (My friend likes them, and I wouldn't mind learning how to make a good one)

Between 1:1 and 1:3. It all depends on taste. 

In reply to tuna55 :

Are you doing the full sugar or the lite versions? I'm comparing full sugar versions.

I agree on Hendrick's mostly not being worth the premium. Certainly not for G&T. It's just too delicate.

Beer Baron said:

In reply to tuna55 :

Are you doing the full sugar or the lite versions? I'm comparing full sugar versions.

I agree on Hendrick's mostly not being worth the premium. Certainly not for G&T. It's just too delicate.

Only gin and tonic so far, and only lite versions of each. I'm not willing to put that much sugar into anything. I'll try the gin by itself later to be sure, but the other gins were better so far. 

Need opinions.  Which is best:  Gilbey's, Beefeaters or Fleischmann's...?

In reply to stroker :

Beefeater, Gilbys, Fleischmann in that order. 

Here's a site that does Gin reviews: https://theginisin.com/gin-reviews-list/

Gilbey's 2.5 stars (surprise)

Fleischman's 2.5 stars also

Basic Beefeater, 2 stars

Confused...  There is also another Beefeater review with 4 stars.  I kinda agree with that

Non sequitur, but I was just in Italy and both times that I ordered J&Ts they poured me really stiff ones. Seems like in the states most of the time you can barely taste the Jin for the tonic.

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

Sounds like they came from this guy's school of G&T:

The home distilling thread has me beginning to wonder if I should buy a bottle of Everclear and start experimenting with gin ingredients to try and zero in on what I like best...

I have a make your own Gin kit I hope to break open soon.

I've been using Hendrick's Obrium and Midsummer a lot for my Gin and Tonics. Obrium is really heavy on the juniper and is almost syrupy, but the Midsummer is very floral. I love the midsummer, but I wouldn't pair it with citrus.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I credit this thread for picking up some of the lighter version of the Fever Tree Indian tonic; I didn't realize that it wasn't "diet" in the traditional sense (i.e. with terrible tasting fake sugars), just less sweet. For whatever reason, my local retailer charges as much for the four-pack of cans of Q as they do for six of the Fever Tree, and I already feel like I'm paying a lot for tonic.

I'd like to try some other gins; I've enjoyed the local-to-me Freeland gin, still mostly stick to the standard Tanqueray, but boring as it is I kinda want to just A/B Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire for a start. I do need to try the Freeland London dry gin, too.