Fever Tree took gin lovers on a G&T tasting to understand which gin pairs best with which Fever-Tree tonic. The event was hosted by Fever-Tree brand ambassador, Trish Brew (pictured above) alongside Melissa Hoyer.
It was fascinating how beautifully each gin was enhanced by each Fever-Tree flavour. As Black Pearl’s Luke Sanderson expressed on the evening, “Together we’re stronger than apart.”
More than that, it is always exciting to watch people who love what they do, doing what they do.
We started in the Adelaide Hills with 78 Degrees (formerly Adelaide Hills Distillery), the distillery started by Sacha La Forgia and recently acquired by Mighty Craft. Stuart Morrow took us on a tour and introduced us to Fleur, the 50L Beck keg where it all started for La Forgia who was named Distiller of the Year at the international Icons of Gin 2020 awards and its 2020 Native Grain Weeping Grass Whiskey was awarded best grain whiskey at the World Whiskies Award in London earlier this year.
We sampled 78 Degrees with Fever-Tree’s Aromatic Tonic Water and a slice of orange. The Aromatic Tonic Water pairs perfectly with juniper rich and robust gins. It was soft, a refreshing and went down very easily.
Then we headed to the bar and learned how to make the classic: a Tanqueray G&T with Kate McGrath, Brand Ambassador for Tanqueray. Ms McGrath said knowing how to make a G&T and a bottle of Tanqueray behind the bar are the “backbones of bartending”.
Ms McGrath generously pours the gin in the glass first, then the tonic, then plenty of ice and the garnish – a slice of lemon or lime in this case – goes in at the end before finishing off with a stir.
She believes that premium tonics like Fever Tree have revived the love of this classic.
“There is a new found love for Tanqueray with the classic tonic. The quality of mixes is as important as the gin,” said Ms Grath.
Black Pearl’s Luke Sanderson showed us how to make an absolutely delicious G&T with Hendrick’s and Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic Water. It really something. For a fresh and floral gin, Elderflower Tonic is the way to go. Garnished with shaved cucumber and a strawberry, it was the sweetest and most intriguing of the mixes.
Finally, we sampled Scapegrace Gin with thanks to Gee David. Distilled in Christchurch, the gin paired perfectly with Mediterranean Tonic Water which is best suited to citrus and herbaceous gins.
It is fair to say, by this stage, it was time for Drinks Trade to leave the group for an early night. It had been a fairly pacey affair with an occasionally rowdy crowd and three G&Ts in, it was definitely time to pull up stumps. We came away all the wiser when it comes to cooking up a G&T in lockdown.
