Your Gin & Tonic pairing guide
Monday 11th May 2020
Who is speaking?
Andras, Tatyana, Spyros and Endri are all working in our dining outlets including The Mirror Bar.
Our drinks experts have decided to honour this all-time classic with their amazing gin & tonic guide for you to become a gin pairing expert at home.
It is your turn to shine combining all the perfect ingredients for an exclusive gin tasting.
The iconic GINTO, as we say in modern slang is to describe a gin & tonic. A go to drink, to watch the sunset from your terrace, after a long day, for a special evening or, even better, for a brunch in the sun.
This simple and yet adored cocktail actually has its reasons to be so popular and to have become a worldwide institution.
Did you know?
Gin & tonic was originally introduced by the army of the British East India Company in India. At that time Malaria was an even more important issue in India and other tropical regions.
In the 1700s, a Scottish doctor names Georges Cleghorn revealed that quinine could be a used to prevent the disease.
To avoid malaria, the quinine was drunk in tonic water; however the bitter taste was very unpleasant. In the early 19th century, British army officers in India decided to add a mixture of water, sugar, gin and lime to give it a better taste and that is how the famous gin & tonic cocktail was born.
Let the evening be GIN! – gin pairing for dinner
Looking for the best gin to make your evening extraordinary? Here are the recommendations of our experts from The Mirror Bar on which Gin to select when having dinner:
The Botanist
Some gins have 6,10 botanical, but the Botanist has a whopping 22, all collected round the island of Islay, resulting in a beautifully balanced floral gin.
Our recommended garnish of lemon wheel and mint sprig opens up the rich floral character of the Botanist.
Recommended with
Botanist, and mixed with the traditional Indian tonic would be a perfect complement to a savoury smoked salmon platter.
Plymouth Gin
Few cities or towns can claim a stronger relationship with gin’s history than Plymouth. With simple, but impressive traditional gin recipe, this is a versatile and outstanding gin that shouts “craft”.
Recommended with
Garnished with lemon and cardamom, mixed with Indian tonic, fresh and crispy, would be a perfect match to the traditional fish and chips dish.
Dictador Treasure
Based on a unique Colombian fruit Limon Mandarin, in this gin, the exotic sweet taste of a tangerine is blended to a fantastic balance with the acidity of the lemon. The time spent in oak barrels previously used to age rums, gives this gin freshness and smoothness.
Recommended with
You could savour it with a few ice cubes, cinnamon stick & a mint leaf, along with a board of selected cheeses.
When life gives you lemons, add gin & tonic!
Gin pairing for cocktail & canapes
Gin Mare
With rosemary, thyme, olive, and basil included in the botanical line up its savoury and unusual, balanced and complex. Made in the small Spanish fishing town of Vilanova, just outside the city of Barcelona, Gin Mare epitomises the Mediterranean spirit.
On the nose: herbaceous, with resinous juniper and thyme dominating – olives are also apparent.
To taste: more juniper with a burst of basil, rosemary and thyme merge as well as coriander. The combination feels savoury. It will make for a savoury old Negroni, but really its home is in a big, loud Spanish-style G&T.
Recommended with
Spanish Tapas and Arbequina olives. Gin Mare pair especially well with marine-based ingredients such as seaweed, oysters, scallops and flounder. Served as appetizers, they make a perfect accompaniment to your Gin Mare tonics, aperitivos or Gin Mare cocktails.
Elephant Gin
Crafted just outside of Hamburg, Germany, Elephant Gin is made up of 14 botanicals. There are classic botanicals such as juniper, cassia bark and sweet orange peel alongside the more unusual additions of ginger, lavender, elderflower, pimento berries, fresh apples and pine needles.
For those counting, you’ll notice we’re missing a few ingredients still and this is where the African link comes into play. The known botanicals from Africa include Baobab fruit, Buchu plant (similar to blackcurrant), African Wormwood, Lion’s Tail and Devil’s Claw.
On the nose, aromatic dry pine, sweet floral flavours and other herbal notes emerge in what feels like a dusty, earthy gin.
To taste, it has a smooth mouthfeel, spicy flavours present themselves upfront, before pine and juniper dominate to create a dry, warming gin with a long finish. Clearly designed with the gin and tonic in mind, it’s easy to see how the gin will mix well with other cocktails, particularly a Negroni.
Recommended with
Our perfect serve is based on its ingredients, so we use Fever Tree Elderflower tonic and garnish with ginger and fresh apple. Best when served with African tapas such as Cassava chips and Suya meatballs.
Did you know?
Each batch of Elephant Gin is named after great elephants that the partner foundations currently do their best to protect. Elephant Gin contributes 15% of its profits to two charities: Big Life Foundation and Space for Elephants.
Audemus Pink Pepper
Audemus Pink pepper paired with med. tonic. Pink pepper gin is uniquely handcrafted with love and blended with old and new techniques made in the heart of the cognac region.
It has fresh and spicy notes, when it is served over ice and tonic, then the gin opens itself and the flavours of vanilla, tonka and honey come to the forefront.
Recommended with
The oils from the flowers and the delicate flavous from around the Mediterreanean shores paired with a slice of pink grapefruit make the best serve and its great to enjoy on every occasion.
Monkey 47
An unusual gin from the Black Forest in Germany contains a very unique ingredient, lingonberry!
The 47 comes from the number of botanicals that go into this gin and the fact, it’s bottled at a healthy 47 % ABV.
The zingy citrus is assertive to taste upfront but gives way rich bouquet of flavours including herbal juniper, juicy lingonberry, sweet liquorices ,cardamom and hibiscus floral touches.
Recommended with
Paired with Blackberries and Blueberries, cracked peppers and slimline tonic on the side would make this drink the perfect match to our “Canapé Tasting “as a pre dinner snack. Alternatively, why not try as a Martini cocktail after dinner with a beautiful selection of our British cheeses. “Go wild, Go monkey”.
Did you know?
The “monkey” element comes from the story of a British Air Force Commander that helped rebuild Berlin Zoo after the war and later opened his guesthouse called “Wild monkey” where he served his own gin.
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