What to mix with gin - best gin mixers
What to mix with gin?
The obvious answer is tonic water to make a G&T. Remember, if you're drinking a good gin, don't spoil it with cheap tonic! There are lots of tonics on the market - with weird and wonderful flavours to try. Other gin mixers you may want to investigate include: soda water, lemonade, ginger beer (or ale), orange juice and even Coke. And you can also enjoy gin neat without a mixer. The best gins don't need a gin mixer at all.
Some advice on mixing your gin
One of the first rules of choosing the best gin mixers is - you can easily ruin your drink by using a sub-par mixer or drowning the gin with too much mixer.
And while most people choose the classic gin and tonic, many people assume they don't like gin, when actually they don't like tonic. Don't worry there are other nice mixers for gin!
Tonic: The classic and one of the best gin mixers
The classic mixer for gin is tonic - a drink developed by the administrators of the British Empire who drank tonic water for its anti-malarial quinine. They added gin and - hey presto - one of the most famous and enduring cocktails in history was born.
So of the nice mixers for gin, tonic comes top. If you’re drinking a premium gin like York Gin, make sure you choose a premium tonic. There are some fabulous premium tonics on the market - Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light and Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water are probably the most famous premium tonics (certainly in England). But Fever-Tree have lots of other flavoured tonics and other companies are creating fabulous quality alternatives. Invest some time and effort into finding your favourite.
If you're looking for a gin to go with your tonic, try York Gin London Dry and Fever-Tree Light for a classic G&T or York Gin Roman Fruit and Fever-Tree Elderflower tonic for a more fruity and floral alternative.
Soda: Taste the Gin!
Tonic is far from the only mixer for gin.
Often, people who say they don’t like gin actually don’t like the taste of the tonic in a G&T.
An alternative mixer for a fizzy long gin drink is soda.
It has all the bubbles but none of the quinine that some people can find too bitter. Emma, one of our co-founders, has been drinking York Gin & Soda water for several years. She says she loves being able to taste the gin without the interference of the tonic. We think gin and soda (G&S) has a long and successful future ahead.
And of course, the Tom Collins cocktail has gin and soda as its base - with a sugar syrup and lime juice added. York Gin Old Tom is the perfect gin for this gin classic.
Other mixers
Lime cordial: This creates a classic Gimlet cocktail. Add Rose's lime cordial to gin and ice for a very dry drink!
Lemonade: A sweeter alternative to tonic. Lots of people love this in the newer fruit gins that have appeared in recent years. It’s great in York Gin Roman Fruit.
Bitter Lemon: Most gins happily mix with citrus, so bitter lemon obviously has some serious potential. Try it - you might just love it.
Fruit Juice: Popularised by the Snoop Dogg song - simply add your favourite fruit juice to a glass of ice and gin. Very, very easy - and refreshing on a hot summer day.
Tea: An iced tea gin cocktail with English Breakfast or even Earl Grey is becoming increasingly popular.
And finally: Try your own - some people like ginger ale or ginger beer or even Coke with gin. We're not here to judge!
Gin cocktails
Then, there is the whole world of gin cocktails - including classics like the Dry Martini, Negroni the Tom Collins.
See our Cocktails page to start learning about the possibilities. Lots of them are easy to make, don’t require fancy equipment and can really open your eyes to the potential of gin!
And, of course, some people like to enjoy gin neat - without any mixer at all!
More gin-fo and helpful articles
What is gin and what are the different types of gin
What is the best garnish for a G&T
How to choose the best gin for you