irresistible and lethal combination, not forgetting that for many, this was a time when alcohol was safer to drink than mains water. And because gin wasn’t taxed initially, it was even cheaper than beer.
anti-malaria drug quinine more palatable for British officers at risk of catching the deadly disease in India.
Some might say that gin was the 18th-century crack cocaine of England’s poor, since its powerful depressant qualities (its USP if you like) were a cheap means to forget their worries. Ingrained in the very foundations of society at the time, a noticeable increase in women gin addicts in the 1700s led to its various feminine nicknames, including ‘mother’s ruin’.
But the original quinine-based mixture was extremely bitter to drink, and so lime, sugar and gin were added to make it more appetising. Then the descendants of a German jeweller based in Geneva, Johann Jakob Schweppe, used their newly-patented bubbling device on a mixture of oranges, water and quinine. They called their product Schweppes Indian Tonic and the rest (as they say) is gin history.
It’s widely believed that the humble gin and tonic was the reason the British were able to rule India for as long as they did. Essentially a method of medical advancement, the first gin and tonic was first developed in the 19th-century, as a way to make the
Today a traditional G&T remains the most popular way to consume gin, but the spirit’s use is also surging in cocktails and (like whisky) as a neat drink served over ice, especially when enjoying a high-quality or craft gin. ► Sep-Nov 2018 The Cultured Traveller 237