Cooking Lesson #692: Cucumber & Lime Tanqueray & Tonic

…from the Perspectives’ Happy Hour Bar

How you doin’? I always thought that gin was an English invention. I was wrong… its origin is attributed to Franciscus Sylvius, a 17th-century professor of medicine at the University of Leiden in Holland, who distilled the juniper berry with spirits to produce an inexpensive medicine having the diuretic properties of juniper-berry oil.
 
Gin was declared contraband by the English and the government was forced to act. The 1736 Gin Act taxed retail sales at 20 shillings a gallon and made selling gin without a £50 annual license strictly illegal. But over the next seven years, only two licenses were taken out meaning reputable sellers were put out of business, and bootleggers thrived.
 
Most people get hit by this strong taste that lingers in their mouth when they drink gin. Some say it is too bitter and has a weird medicinal taste, which is usually if they taste a traditional, dry gin that will have a strong juniper aroma.
 
Today, gin is more popular than ever and there is no sign of it waning anytime soon. In the last decade, gin has seen a revival incomparable to any other spirit on the market. The "gin-aissance," as it is sometimes called, has led to a significant boom in gin making in the UK and the US featuring flavored spirits.

Ingredients 
1 small cluster mint leaves, divided
1-1/2 ounces of Tanqueray Rangpur Lime Gin
1/2 teaspoon cucumber bitters
6 ounces tonic
1 long cumber slice (see photo image) for garnish
 
Directions

1. Take a few of the mint leaves and push them along the inside of a glass for flavor; reserve the rest for garnish.
2. Build the gin and bitters over ice in a coupe glass.
3. Fill the glass with tonic
4. Artfully garnish with a long cucumber slice, mint sprig and a pinch of sea salt.

ChefSecret:  Option:  Garnish cocktail by placing a cucumber slice onto cocktail pick, pushing the slice into a wave.

Quip of the Day:  I just went on the Gin & Tonic Diet. I Already lost 3-days.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross.

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