Thursday 16 August 2012

Gin & Tonic—Hold The Ice?

When chatting to the Canadian founder of Iceberg Gin (and vodka) he explained that the key to spirits was the purity of the water source (in his case Death Flow Icebergs)—which made me question that, given the purity of the gin, if you use plain ice with your drink you will start to undo the benefit of the pure water.

He had an answer for this quandary (or rather his wife did), and that was to keep the gin, and glass in the freezer and the lemon and tonic water really well chilled. I actually go as far as to leave the tonic in the freezer for 10 minutes* before serving.

When you want your drink you simply pour the chilled ingredients into the chilled glass and forego the ice.

Delicious, I am fast becoming a convert to keeping gin and tonic glasses in the freezer. Perfectly chilled drink whose cooling effects continue even after you have swallowed the liquid. The slightly fruity Larry's gin put a new spin on this classic drink, but it is still crisp and dry and obviously a gin & tonic.

On such a hot day it is a welcome refreshment.

*Any longer than ten minutes and you risk an exploding bottle or burst can and a real mess in your freezer, so get an adult to help you.

3 comments:

  1. My stepfather always keeps glasses in the freezer. There is nothing so nice in a Queensland summer as a cold beer in a properly chilled glass.

    Putting tonic in the freezer means I need to have a designated driver around the house at all times, and I am not sure I can manage that.

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  2. I chill the gin and glasses in the freezer, but I *also* add ice. I keep the tonic in the fridge, because otherwise I'd have to perform actual planning and preparation. :p

    This makes for a very nice, chilled g&t with slow-melting ice.

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  3. Surely this 'pure water' thing is complete bunk? While a appreciate the idea, you have to consider that the water that goes into the tonic will not be 'pure'. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure that water from icebergs has no particular claim to purity. Different approaches to chilling drinks could however provide a fascinating field of study..

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