Happy thirsty Thursday everyone! So because I am feeling rather saucy today, or rather I would like to get a little saucy, I decided to feature my all time favorite cocktail as our drink of the week. Now you may be thinking, what would Amber’s favorite cocktail be, obviously something fancy, a little sassy and all around elegant, and you would be right. For those of you who don’t know me, the answer is Gin and Tonic. No I am not a 60-year-old man smoking a pipe in a tweed jacket with suede elbow patches, but I do enjoy this delicious drink, that actually comes with a fascinating history.
Gin and Tonics were first introduced by the British East India Company in India. Here many of the locals and soldiers were being plagued with Malaria, especially in the tropical regions, when they discovered that quinine (tonic) was a great preventative as well as treatment for the disease. Quinine at the time did not taste good, so in the 19th century British officers added a combination of sugar, water, lime and gin to make it taste better. Soldiers were given a ration of gin by the British Government so the drink only made sense.
Today there is much less quinine in tonic so it is not a suitable treatment for Malaria, just incase some of you are hoping to forgo your Malaria shots for your next trip in hopes of just drinking the mosquitos away, its not a good option. Today’s tonic is much sweeter and like I mentioned above contains much less quinine than in the 1800s.
Gin and tonics, for those of you who have not had them are made more to taste than with an actual recipe. Suggested options I found were 1:1 1:2 or 2:3. Personally I love the taste of Gin (shocking, I know) so I would say a 1:1 is about right or maybe even 2:1. But hey, that’s just me.
For those of you still hoping to fight off Malaria on your next trip with an outrageous amount of G and T’s please give us a call at 920.236.7777. Or visit our website ambassadortravelltd.com to schedule an appointment.
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