I was introduced to gin at a very young age.
Not in the drinking sense to be clear—but watching the doctors of M*A*S*H swill homemade gin for ten seasons probably caused a subliminal love for the juniper-flavoured spirit to flower and grow in me long before I had my first drop of alcohol.
The first time I had a gin and tonic though, I knew I’d found something delightful. Sharp without being too bitter, slightly flavored with a lime, and not quite as strong as that other essential gin-based cocktail, the martini.
Ah the G and T: the best of all the highball cocktails, a deceptively simple but absolutely essential cocktail, one with endless possibilities and variations.
I’ve put together a highly subjective list—while I myself think specific brands of gin work best with a few of these specific garnishes, you could really swap in whatever kind of gin you like while giving these combinations a spin.
Basic Ingredients:
– Gin (1 or 2 shots—I prefer 2)
– A 350 ml or so glass (Wikipedia recommends a rock or highball glass if you care deeply about that sort of thing)
– Tonic water
– A garnish: traditionally limes or lemons
Lemon and Rosemary 
This is a combination for any kind of gin you want—from your standard Bombay Sapphire to your weird Canadian yellow Ungava. Squeeze a slice or two of lemon into your gin and tonic and stick a stalk of rosemary in there. Rosemary adds it’s own unique bitter taste to the drink and it smells incredible.
Lime, mint, and raspberries
If you’ve always wanted to feel like a woodland elf while drinking your gin and tonic, this is the drink you’ve been looking for. Add some mint leaves to go along with the traditional lime, and drink it with raspberries. The raspberries sweetness counteracts the bitter gin and lime perfectly.
The ginger-tonic
Add a shot of ginger liquor or ginger beer to your cocktail. Or, if you’re feeling a bit sacrilegious, swap out the tonic entirely for some kind of ginger-based soda. I would recommend Vernors ginger-ale over Canada Dry. Vernors is very strong and so carbonated that just smelling it will make you cough and sneeze. In other words, it holds its own wonderfully against a strong London dry gin. I generally use it with Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire.
Ungava and Grapefruit
Feeling slightly adventurous? Well then pick up a bottle of Ungava gin. It’s a Canadian-made gin from the Ungava peninsula in Northern Quebec and it’s yellow. Sunshine yellow! Ignore your friends when they point out that it looks a bit like bottled urine. It’s 43.1% alcohol, fairly strong, and works better when you swap in the lime for a couple slices of grapefruit.
Hendricks and cucumber
Hendricks is on the expensive side, but worth trying for devoted gin enthusiasts. It’s unusually flavored with rose and cucumber—so confuse your friends by dropping some cucumber slices into your gin and tonic!
There you have it. Just picture yourself walking around a dinner party with all kind of herbs and leaves and such placed artfully in your gin and tonic. People will probably comment on how good your drink smells and ask you if it’s magical. Tell them it is.
