How many times, in pubs, do I have to lecture captive audiences who convincingly feign ennui as a defensive reaction to their embarrassment at the solecism they are committing, that lemon is the only legitimate accompaniment to a gin and tonic? Tradition is, of course, an adequate reason in itself. But the fact is that, while a slice of lemon complements the gin, the overpowering flavour of lime drowns it completely.As with most of society's evils, he traces the root cause to New Labour although he opines that barmen who rub the lime around the rim of the glass were trained by the Borgias.
This prompts me to observe the remarkable similarity between Tony Blair and Cesare Borgia. I wonder if they are by any chance related?
In their public policy they were entirely different, of course. Cesare Borgia had scant regard for the sanctity of human life and was praised by Machiavelli for his use of deception in order to promote politically advantageous warfare. Not that we should in any way pass judgement on Borgia's personal conscience or the sincerity of his profession of the Catholic faith.
13 comments:
Cesare Borgia also had a brain and some scruples ! He's also only culpable for the death of hundreds...
When I was staying in an abbey in ramsgate all we had as a mixer for gin was shandy bass - admittedly it's twenty years ago, but we called the P.E.Ps [short for pauli's exclusion principles] and they tasted pretty good....
Well, no Gin & T's for me this Summer unless I bring my own lemon, I venture to say.
Gin and Tonic will be one of the longest lasting cutural contributions of the Victorian Empire. One that can even be appriciated by us disaffected colonist, in the heat of our latitude 40, continental summers.
Speaking from vast experience why would anyone ruin good gin by putting tonic in it?? Just gin and olives, thank you very much.
Oooops - that's right - I used up all my drink tickets. You'll have to drink it for me:)
and keep a careful eye on anyone who puts anything other than an olive in a gin martini.
In fact, I've heard of some nefarious types who will try to tell you that martinis can be made with anything other than gin and vermouth.
Fr Tim, I would never have thought that I could have disagreed with you more. Not only that lemon is better in a G&T is better than lime, but I would also venture that lemonade is a much better mixer with gin than tonic.
The way forward is to have lime with a gin and lemonade; g&l is the future.
I thought dear old Warner blamed everything on VII?
I like fresh orange juice in my gin. Does that make me Cesare's sister?
Check out www.in-the-spirit.co.uk for gin cocktails - will really make you talk in tongues!
Surely the really important issue is the quality of the gin and the relative proportion between it and the tonic. My preference is for a good quality gin like Tanqueray and the proportions to be nearer the "musical" end of the spectrum (i.e. the tonic is not too dominant).
On the issue of Lemon vs Lime, I don't see them as mutually exclusive. Could we not take a leaf out of the Holy Father's book and have an Extraordinary G&T for the former and an Ordinary G&T for the former. I suggest that we adapt a suggestion of Fr Martin Edwards and call the Ordinary G&T a "Dry Montini". I leave your readers to come up with an appropriate name for the Extraordinary form of this most clerical of drinks.
No way, Jose. The only correct way to build a gin and tonic is to take a tall glass, completely fill it with ice, squeeze 1/8 of a lime (none of your cissy slices) over the ice and then chuck in what is left in your hand, keep pouring gin until the ice just begins to float, then top up with tonic.
It is, of course, crucial, to choose the right ingredients. The ONLY tonic to use is You-Know-Who (that probably gives my age away), and it is essential that only gin that comes in a green bottle ever be used. The one in the cylindrical bottle is even better than the flat-iron one, but the latter makes a handy implement for bashing out veal escalopes (after one has polished off the contents and refilled it with water - otherwise, one would bruise the gin).
Any barman who uses a slice of lime to rub round the rim of the glass has confused his gin and tonic with his margarita and is not to be trusted.
I write as a bartender's daughter.
I can't stand lime in a gin and tonic and have several times asked the person at the bar (usually a woman) to give me another one with lemon.
I bet you anything that it was lime and gin that gave Paul VI funny ideas... that and strong coffee.
I hesitate to take sides on the gin issue but I am amused that the comparison of Tony Blair and Cesare Borgia seems to have been entirely uncontroversial :-)
That's because, Father, in golfing parlance, that one was a gimme.
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