As one of the most popular spirits on the market, gin is a firm favourite – and will most likely be one of the most purchased spirits for the winter season. However, gin is widely known as a summer drink, and while this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a traditional gin and tonic during the colder months, there is something to be said about enjoying a perfect seasonal drink that truly adds to the winter atmosphere. Although Christmas has been and gone, the winter season lasts for much longer – which means that summer is still a while away. But not to worry, we’ve got a couple of tricks up our sleeves to help you have a perfect seasonal gin before the sunshine reappears!
If you’re a big fan of rich berry flavours or even summer fruit flavours, a great way to add an extra zing to your gin is by infusing it with your favourite fruit flavoured tea. Signet’s very own gin enthusiast, Lucy George, recommends placing the tea bag into a glass, followed by lots of ice, then pour your gin over the ice, give your teabag time to infuse before removing and lastly top up with your tonic (or lemonade for those who prefer it sweeter!). You can experiment with the strength of the flavours with how long you leave the teabag in for, and also reduce the ice if you don’t want your drink as cold. The ice holds the teabag in the bottom of the glass and protects it from infusing too fast when pouring the gin over it. Top tip: A dark berry tea with a touch of cinnamon will really help to deliver that wintery feel.
A warming wintery flavour that’s bound to tickle your taste buds this winter is apple and cinnamon! Begin by bringing 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1½ teaspoons of cinnamon and 1 apple that has been cut into chunks together into a saucepan and cook on a medium to low heat for 5-10 minutes. Strain the syrup into a bottle and discard of what is left in the saucepan, add a splash of the apple cinnamon syrup to your gin and tonic, and serve! While this one requires a little more work you can make a large batch of the apple and cinnamon syrup ahead of time, so that you can enjoy a festive spiced G&T whenever you choose.
While the most common garnish to grace a gin and tonic is a wedge of lemon or lime, adding a slightly different garnish can really help the gin to really reflect the season (and taste good too!). We suggest adding star anise, cinnamon, orange rind or ginger to your gin so you can truly taste the wintery spices that we all know and love. There are plenty of ways to do this, but we recommend either warming the gin and these spices in a saucepan and adding some sugar to create a mulled gin, or leaving these spices in a jar with the gin, allowing the liquid to become infused with these flavours. Alternatively, you can simply add them to your G&T glass for a more subtle taste.
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