Japan’s lighter take on the classic Gin & Tonic: Gin Sonic

The Gin Sonic adds club soda to traditional tonic water for a lighter taste that highlights the gin’s flavor. Recipe below.

GIN & TONIC HAS LONG BEEN MY GO-TO SUMMER COCKTAIL. Then our friend Kevin told us about Spain’s take on this most British of cocktails, and I was newly smitten. So imagine my delight to discover Japan’s own lighter version, the Gin Sonic.

The S in Sonic stands for soda—club soda, a key ingredient in the Gin Sonic. For years, Japan banned the use of quinine in food and beverages. Quinine’s bitter flavor is the essence of tonic water; remove it and you’re left with sugar water (the sugar being added to balance out quinine’s bitterness). To overcome the sweetness in quinine-free Japanese tonics, bartenders started adding club soda to their gin & tonics.

With traditional tonic waters, adding club soda quiets its bitter presence, creating a light-tasting summery cocktail. And it lets the gin shine through. As more and more distilleries explore botanicals-driven craft gins, mixed drinks like the Sonic bring those botanical flavors forward while delivering on the classic G&T profile.

One more thing we like about the Gin Sonic? There’s a meme currently making the rounds that says “We didn’t do this because it was easy. We did it because we thought it would be easy.” Yeah, making this drink is really, really easy.

Print Pin

Gin Sonic

The Gin Sonic adds club soda to traditional tonic water for a lighter taste that highlights the gin's flavor.

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 ounces gin
• 2 ounces tonic
• 2 ounces club soda
• your choice of garnish—lime, cucumber or fruit slice, fresh herbs

Instructions

• Fill a tall Collins glass with ice. Pour the gin, tonic and club soda over the ice, and gently stir. If the glass isn’t full enough, add more ice, not tonic or soda—you’ll throw off the ratio of the ingredients. Add the garnish. Enjoy.