6 Unique Gin & Tonics Tasted @ the Darcy O'Neil event: G&T Paradox

Darcy did a great job, in hosting this event and we had quite a lot of guests who could try the different G&T.

Unfortunately I didn't made pictures...

Cucumber & Coriander G&T with Strawberry
Darcy: Strawberry & coriander share similar aroma compounds; coriander is further very common in gin.
Darcy emulsified coriander essential oil in simple syrup, he was using for the drink.
That we quite a slam-dunk - most guest liked it. It was very refreshing and very cool - we used Plymouth for it, which was definitely a great company with the drink.

Cardamon & Mint G&T
Darcy used the popularity of the Mojito, to "capture" guests - the cardamom syrup (again made with essential oils and emulsification) was giving it a more unique and Middle Eastern flair - basically there was only cardamom syrup, gin, mint, lemon and tonic water involved.
Again very refreshing, with a distinctive oriental note. We used partly Plymouth and Bombay Sapphire for it and both gins worked very well.

Orange Blossom G&T
Darcy's recipe included gin, Campari Bitter, little bit syrup, orange blossom water and East Imperial Yuzu Tonic.
A drink with a girly pink color, but a taste which isn't girly at all... the Campari highlights the bitterness... very interesting - would be a cool aperitivo. Overall the drink sports a very floral aroma - which is not for everyone - but was definitely a favorite for some.

Cinchona G&T
Darcy infused cinchona bark in gin (with the help of a vortex vacuum magnet stirrer).
I tried the infusion, and it was ultra bitter and covered up all botanicals of the gin...
He called it a G&T which you would have had way back in time...
The rest was just Plymouth gin, lime and East Imperial tonic water.

That was interesting... I liked the drink (even though it was a "golden G&T and not the usual white/clear one). The earthiness of the cinchona bark played very well with the botanicals of the gin (if you use only a barspoon of the essence).

Lime & Juniper G&T
Darcy: "Make a highball using gin, tonic and lime-juniper syrup to make asoda style gin and tonic.

Enhanced recipe using essential oils of juniper and lime as they would have done in the 1800s

Tinctures will be made with gin and the essential oil to dilute the concentration.

Key Lime essential oil."

Very, very refreshing but not for everyone. The juniper quite sticks out - but is well contained by the fresh lime aromas. It seems, that they didn't drank badly in the 19th century... however we could have replicated a 19th century Old Tom Gin - unfortunately we didn't thought about this at this time...

The Dirty G&T

That was my idea... but Darcy used his "Ritz-Salt" - a really interesting combination of different mineral salts to "make it sing".

Ingredients were: Plymouth navy and vodka, olive leaf hydrosol, tonic water and "Ritz-salt".

This was probably the most controversial one (probably most people won't be surprised). Very strong briny and herbal aromas - not sweet at all... very grown up... probably I would only have one...

So that's about it. Tomorrow we will have the "Science of Taste Event" with wine... and I am looking again very much forward to it.