08 Aug 2019

#MONROCDRINKS - GIN TONIC

There are only a few people who haven't tried GIN&TONIC yet....but does anyone know who invented this super-famous drink?! 

In order to find out the origins of this must-have of bars and pubs, we have to go back in history: to be more precise, we have to look at the period of the english colonization of India. 

We are in the 18th century and the english soldiers are facing one of the worst enemies of those times: the malaria.

Back in the days, the only known remedy against this disease was the QUININE, berries with healing properties, that will be the main ingredient of the tonic water.

The QUININ was really bitter: in order to make the taste more pleasant. the soldiers decided to add to it their daily portion of gin, together with sugar and lemon.

The first ancestor of the GIN&TONIC was thus born, and it was immediately imported in Europe. Its history reached its peak in France between 1980 an 1990: it spread first among studets, then it moved to all the cafes and bar of Paris. It's a cult drink that today cannot be missing during aperitvs and after dinner. The only rule is that it has to be perfectly prepared!

FUN FACTS

....Who invented the GIN?! The gin, known as "jenever" among Dutch people, was created at Leiden University in 1650 by Dr. Sylvius. It was a "potion" able to free all the properties of the juniper berries. In 17th century, the Protestant Dutch Republic and the Catholic Spanish Empire split up. England was Protestant too and, during the struggle between Catholics and Protestants, Dutch and English people created an alliance. In this way, the Queen's reign got to know the jenever. As it is usual with the spread of a recipe, English people created their own version of the spirit, and they called it "gin".

And what about tonic water?!

In 1794, the german chemist Johann Jacob Schweppe created the soda as a medicine, by melting quinine tablets into the lemon water.