Gin Tonic.
Two ingredients, one ratio, no shaker. Because nothing sits in between, every mistake shows: too little ice, stirred too early, the wrong tonic. And you taste the gin, which is why the choice of bottle decides more here than in any other drink.
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gin | 4 cl |
| Tonic water, cold | 12 cl |
| Lemon or grapefruit zest | 1 strip |
Fill the glass with ice until it stands above the rim. Gin on top, then let the tonic run in along a bar spoon. Lift once from the bottom. Express the zest over the glass and drop it in.
More stirring achieves nothing and costs carbonation. The mixing happens on its own as the tonic runs past the ice.
- SpecValue
- Glasshighball or copa
- Icein the glass, above the rim
- Garnishzest, never a slice
- Methodbuilt
- In the glass16 cl · 10.3 % ABV
- Time1 minute
The maths: 4 cl at 41 % is 1.64 cl of pure alcohol. In 16 cl of liquid that is 10.3 % ABV. With a gin at 40 % it comes to 10.0.
One to three is our spec, not the law.
Spain pours one to two, England tends towards one to four. The whole difference between a drink you have before dinner and one you have in the afternoon sits in between.
| Ratio | Gin | Tonic | In the glass |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:2 | 4 cl | 8 cl | 13.7 % ABV |
| 1:3 | 4 cl | 12 cl | 10.3 % ABV |
| 1:4 | 4 cl | 16 cl | 8.2 % ABV |
The figures assume a gin at 41 % and no meltwater. The more tonic in the glass, the further the quinine note moves forward and the less you hear of the juniper. At one to four you mostly taste the tonic.
Testing a new bottle, start at one to two. That is where the gin shows what it has. Then decide how much tonic it can take.
Quinine, sugar, carbonation.
Tonic water is a quinine solution with sugar and carbonation. The quinine comes from cinchona bark and brought the bitterness into the drink long before anyone added gin; in Switzerland and the EU the amount is capped at 85 milligrams per litre.
Sugar is the second lever. A classic Indian tonic sits around seven to eight grams of sugar per hundred millilitres, a light tonic at half that. Less sugar means more bitterness up front, not simply less sweetness.
The carbonation carries the gin's aromatics out of the glass and up to the nose. A tonic that is already flat in the bottle turns every gin into the same drink. So small bottles or cans, one per drink, cold from the fridge rather than chilled in the glass.
| Tonic | Character | Goes with |
|---|---|---|
| Indian | dry, quinine forward | London Dry |
| Mediterranean | herbal, floral | citrus and New Western gins |
| Light | less sugar, more bitter | sweeter gins, Old Tom |
Six bottles, six gin tonics.
We distil four of them at the Aktienmühle; two are made at our place for brands from Basel. The order is the one we drink them in ourselves.
Gentleman’s Gin
London Dry from a 1920s recipe, seven botanicals, four distillations. Juniper first, then angelica root and lemon peel, cardamom and clove at the end. With Indian tonic and a lemon zest this is the reference drink.
CHF 54 — to the bottle
Gin de Bâle
Spruce needles we cut ourselves, juniper, lemon peel, cut with the brewing water from Ueli beer. In tonic the citrus comes up and the resin stays in the finish. Mediterranean tonic, grapefruit zest. Gold at the Concours International de Lyon 2024.
CHF 40 — to the bottle
Lumberjack’s Gin
Old Tom with Canadian organic maple syrup and spruce needle. The sweetness in the gin asks for a tonic with less sugar, otherwise the drink turns sticky. With light tonic and an orange zest it is the winter gin of the six.
CHF 54 — to the bottle
Flaneur Gin
Made with StadtKonzeptBasel for the Flaneur Festival. Juniper, orange, pomelo and grapefruit, six different labels. The brightest drink in the row, peel aromatics ahead of the bitterness. Mediterranean tonic, pomelo peel.
CHF 40 — to the bottle
Davos Gin
Distilled from the sweet cherries left over from the Rötali liqueur in Davos, with juniper and alpine herbs, cut with water from the Sertig valley. Spice first, cherry behind it. Indian tonic, no garnish.
CHF 54 — to the bottle
Gryff Gin
New Western Dry from Kleinbasel, developed by four friends and distilled at our place in small batches. Violet and lavender in front, juniper discreetly behind. Every bottle hand-coloured or sandblasted. Mediterranean tonic.
CHF 45 — to the bottle| Gin | ABV | Tonic | Zest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gentleman’s | 41 | Indian | lemon |
| Gin de Bâle | 40 | Mediterranean | grapefruit |
| Lumberjack’s | 41 | Light | orange |
| Flaneur | 40 | Mediterranean | pomelo |
| Davos Gin | 40 | Indian | none |
| Gryff | 40 | Mediterranean | lemon |
| Sesto | 42 | Indian | lemon |
| Nakal | 46 | Mediterranean | lime |
One gin from our own house does not belong in tonic.
In Fisherman's Gin the fleur de sel is calculated onto the batch and dissolved in the cutting water. Salt lowers the solubility of carbon dioxide in water, and that is exactly what happens in the glass: the tonic loses its carbonation faster than with any other gin, and the drink is flat in two minutes.
In a shaken drink the same salt is an advantage. It dampens the perception of bitterness and lifts acidity, which is why the Gimlet needs less sugar syrup with it. Yuzu, matcha and nori belong where tonic would only be missing its bubbles.
We are happy to sell the Fisherman's, just not for this drink. Buy it for gin tonic and you come back disappointed, which helps nobody.
Four things that make the difference.
Ice above the rim
A half-filled glass melts faster than a full one, because less mass takes on more heat per cube. More ice means less meltwater. Save on the tonic, not on the ice.
Zest, not a slice
A lemon slice gives up pulp and acid and clouds the drink. A strip of peel, expressed over the glass, gives up the oils that extend the gin. It is the only garnish that changes anything.
Pour along the bar spoon
The tonic runs down the spoon and past the ice instead of dropping in freely. A free pour drives the carbonation out in two seconds. Then lift once, do not stir.
Copa or highball
The copa holds the aroma above the surface but exposes more area to the air, so the carbonation goes faster. The copa for the first thirty seconds, the highball for the next ten minutes.
Two turns off this road.
Gin and tonic with apple
Gryff Apple Gin with Mediterranean tonic and a slice of apple. The drink turns fruity and stays drinkable thanks to the spice behind it. Currently out of stock.
Gin and soda
No quinine and no sugar. Only worth it with a gin that stands on its own; everything else turns thin. It works with the Gentleman's, because the root botanicals bring body.
Negroni
Same gin, then Campari and red vermouth in equal parts, stirred rather than topped. Recipe, ratio and the comparison of our gins are on the Negroni page.
Ready mixed
The Negroni by Le Rhin Bleu with our Gentleman's comes bottled, 50 cl, 27 % ABV. Chill it, pour over ice, orange zest.
Build your own gin tonic from the bottom up.
In the workshop you blend your own gin from more than twenty single distillates and take 0.5 l home. Afterwards you know which botanical disappears in tonic and which one survives it.
- Three hours, every Thursday from 17:30
- CHF 180 per person, welcome drink included
- 0.5 l of your own gin, the recipe is yours
- Aktienmühle distillery, Gärtnerstrasse 46, Basel
More on the Negroni, the Gimlet, the Espresso Martini, the Moscow Mule or all our serves.