Ep. 3 Give Gin Another Change - The Gin & Tonic

Welcome to episode 3 of The Art of Drinking with Join Jules and Your Favorite Uncle

What are we drinking?

The most perfect Gin and Tonic… DON’T turn your nose up. If you don’t like Gin, it’s because you had bad gin.

Did you know that gin became popular in England in the 1600s… thanks to the Dutch and a ban on french brandy, cognac, and wine? The king at the time banned these often consumed french delights and to keep people happy, encouraged the distillation of alcohol to turn into Gin. Gin became so popular in England that they had something called the "gin craze", which wasn't a good thing… If you've ever heard the term Mothers Ruin, this is from the Gin Craze. Distillation was unregulated and people drank the hell out of Gin. Eventually, the government stepped in, put some rules around how Gin is to be made, and this is where London Dry comes from. Now, this didn't squash the fondness for gin. There was also a distillery in Plymouth England, and they developed a style called Plymouth style gin - a bit more juniper-forward, but delicious in a G&T. Well… in the town of Plymouth was a navy yard, so guess what ended up on the ships… Gin. Now the reason Gin (as well as Rum) was often found on ships is because the water wasn't safe to drink back then… so they consumed alcohol instead.

The Gin & Tonic

Uncle Brad’s Recipe

What do I need?

For my G&T, I love a good plymouth style Gin. But a nice London Dry or even new age Gin will do. My suggestion, go try gins at a bar before you really commit. There are many styles to choose from - rail isn’t and anything in plastic aren’t your friends (actually Gordon’s isn’t a bad mixer)

1. Buy Gin… plymouth style gin

2. Limes

3. Good tonic water (fever tree)

4. Ice

5. barspoon

6. Double Rocks glass - you’re going to be using 7 oz of liquid here

How do I make it?

Remember 2 2 5

1. Make sure your glasses are chilled

2. Do not fill glass with ice to to the top

3. Cut lime length wise (tip to tip)

4. Cut the halves lengthwise again

5. Quarter the lime - easier to squeeze - squeeze both over ice and drop in the glass (2 lime quarters)

6. Add 2 oz of gin

7. Add 5 oz of Tonic

8. Stir and pull up from bottom

9. Top with more ice

10. Garnish with lime wedge - make a small slit in the middle of the wedge (pulp side)

Join Jules’ Recipe

What do I need?

So for a gin and tonic like brad said, you’ll want gin and of course tonic but for this one, let’s spice things up a bit. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Gin, really any gin will work but Monkey47 is my favorite for this

• Tonic, fever tree is a great option or Zevia for a sugar free option (highly recommend)

• Elderflower liqueur, get the small bottle if you don’t use this often

• Grapefruit

• Peppercorns or juniper berries

• Jalapeno simple syrup

• Jalapenos 

• Balloon glass or wine glass

• Cocktail spoon

• Jigger

• Knife

• Garnish: Sage leaves

How do I make it?

We’ve gone through the traditional gin and tonic and trust me the classic G&T is the way to go if you’ve never had one. It’s so underrated and extremely easy. But if you’re ready to kick it up a notch here’s how you’ll make mine:

First let’s get into the jalapeno simple syrup:

What you’ll want to do first is bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar into a medium saucepan.

Next add about 3-6 slices of fresh jalapeno - a little goes a long way here.

Put on the stovetop on medium heat and bring to a boil or until the sugar dissolves.

Once the sugar dissolves, let simmer for about 8 minutes.

Take off the heat and let infuse while it cools completely.

Strain into an airtight container and you’ll be able to store for about 2-4 weeks.

Now, let’s make our cocktail

1. Cut a grapefruit in half

2. In a balloon glass, squeeze half of the grapefruit right into your glass.

3. Cut wedges with the other half of the grapefruit and set aside

4. Next, we’ll add our elderflower liqueur, peppercorns, jalapeno simple syrup, jalapeno slices (about 2-4 depending on how hot you like it), and gin. 

5. Add crushed ice and use your cocktail spoon to chill all the ingredients.

6. Top with tonic water and mix again to incorporate everything.

7. Finally garnish, you’ll garnish with your grapefruit wedge and I like to add fresh sage leaves as well.

But there you have it, still an easy recipe but just a kick of something that makes it tastes like a step up from the normal G&T

Get your Gin & Tonic history lesson by listening to the full podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Tip of the day: SIMPLE SYRUP

Yes - today's tip is one of join jules’ favorites! Simple syrup and please never buy this from the store. REMEMBER its equal parts water and sugar.

Put in a saucepan on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar fully dissolves.

Let cool completely and voila! Simple syrup!

Now let’s make it fun and add some ingredients. The recipe holds true for flavored syrup. But once the sugar dissolves, you’ll want to let the added ingredients simmer for at least 5-10 minutes. Let cool completely and then strain.

Here are some syrup addition ideas:

• Orange zest syrup

• Cinnamon syrup

• Blueberry syrup

• Banana syrup