Recipe
Rosemary Gin and Tonic
A summer drink with the rosemary doing the work.
Makes one drink. Five minutes.
Ingredients
- 3/4 oz Spanish rosemary simple syrup
- 2 oz gin (London Dry works best, see notes)
- 4 oz tonic water (full-tonic, not diet)
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 sprig fresh mint, from the kitchen pot if you have one
- 1 lime wedge
- Ice, plenty
Steps
- Fill a tall glass with ice. Cold glass, cold drink.
- Pour the rosemary syrup over the ice.
- Add the gin. Stir once.
- Top with tonic. Stir once more, gently, so the bubbles stay.
- Squeeze the lime over the top and drop it in.
- Slap the rosemary and mint sprigs against the back of your hand to wake the oils, then tuck them in alongside the lime.
Notes
On the gin
London Dry plays best with the rosemary because the juniper and the rosemary share territory. Tanqueray, Beefeater, Sipsmith, take your pick. A botanical gin like Hendrick's works if that's what's in the cupboard. Skip the sweetened gins. The syrup is doing that job.
On the mint
The mint in the kitchen pot is what we use, and any mint will do. If you do not have mint, the drink still lands. The mint adds a back note, not the main idea.
On the tonic
Full-tonic, not diet. The quinine pairs with the rosemary. Fever-Tree or Q if you have the choice, but a plain supermarket tonic is fine.
On the lime
Lemon works. Lime is right here. The citrus oil opens the rosemary up; either citrus does it.
Scaling
Doubles fine. The syrup gets disproportionate fast above 1 oz, so stay restrained when you scale.
If you do not have rosemary syrup
You can substitute simple syrup with two sprigs of rosemary muddled at the bottom of the glass, but the drink loses the slow-cooked rosemary character that makes this one work. The syrup is doing more than sweetening.