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🕺 Why you should try a Gin & It

🥃 How to mix the perfect Gin & It at home

🍷 Which gins pair best with which vermouths

🍸 Which cocktails to explore next

How do you like your cocktails? Hang around in bars long enough and you’ll be asked this many times over.

My answer is that I like them short, punchy and on the dry side. I also prefer complex flavours over simple ones.

The Gin & It delivers all this in spades. Think of it as a cousin to the Negroni, but neither as heavy nor as sticky.

The Gin & It is light but still packs a kick — it is after all just two types of booze with nothing but the ice to temper it. Yet for all that it also adds complex bittersweet flavours born of the marriage of spirit, botanicals and wine. It’s simple, yes, but it’s also utterly delicious.

Like the G&T, the Gin & It is named after its two ingredients: gin and sweet vermouth. The latter is sometimes also called Italian vermouth which, in this cocktail, gets shortened to “It”.

The reason a Gin & It works so well is that gin and sweet vermouth share a botanical affinity. When you pair them well it can be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The vermouth brings bitterness, much like tonic does to a G&T, but here it’s bittersweet and more complex.

Recipe

Back in the day the Gin & It was often heavy on the vermouth. Some recipes event went up to three parts vermouth to one of gin.

Though proportions have shifted over time to give gin the whip hand over the vermouth, I like mine made with equal parts.

• 50 ml gin
• 50 ml sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• orange twist to garnish

Combine and stir with ice until chilled. Strain and serve.

It’s tempting to build this right in the glass — and you certainly can — but stirring first not only chills your Gin & It but also dilutes it and, importantly, softens it a little, making it more approachable and delicious from the get-go.

I like this best in a double rocks glass over ice — preferably one large and chunky cube or sphere.

You can of course serve it up in a coupe. In fact this may be preferable if you want to get deep into the complex aromatics of the drink.

Still, for me some of this drink’s charm comes from its knock-it-together simplicity. You can quickly and easily put together a delicious Gin & It at home with minimal fuss and mess. Serving in a rocks glass plays into this well whereas a coupe can introduce a fussy note. (Particularly since, if you’re forgoing the ice, you’ll want to chill the glass first.)

As for the garnish, you could use cherries (Luxardo for preference) but my go-to is a simple orange or lemon twist. Express the oils from the peel over the top of your drink for an extra aromatic lift.

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Which gin and which “It”?

You should use decent ingredients here. In this drink there’s gin and there’s vermouth and that’s pretty much it, so whichever ones you choose you’re going to taste both clearly. Don’t be tempted to cheap out just because this is a simple drink.

Like all two-ingredient drinks, its simplicity opens the Gin & It up for all sorts of subtle twists and variations. It’s also a forgiving drink and will most likely work with whatever you have to hand.

Having said that, here are some pairings that I have found work particularly well, organised by the vermouth side of the equation with simpatico gins listed in alphabetical order.

With Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (the best choice, I think)

• Elephant Gin African Explorer (cracking combo)
• Hapusa Himalayan Dry Gin
• Ki No Tea
• O’ndina Gin (also supoib)

With Martini Rosso

• Beefeater (basic but a great baseline nonetheless)
• Roku Sakura Bloom
• Sipsmith VJOP

With La Quintinye Vermouth Royale Rouge

• ARC Archipelago Gin

With Carpano Antica Formula

• Hepple Gin
• Jensen’s Old Tom (great combo, this)

My research on this continues. I have a bottle of Antica Formula in the fridge and lots more gins to pair with it. Keep an eye on my Instagram stories for more. Next up (probably), Punt e Mes.

What to try next if you like this cocktail

Similar drinks:

• a Martinez
• a Hanky Panky, which is basically a Gin & It plus 2 dashes of Fernet-Branca and maybe a drop of fresh orange juice
• a Gin & Dubonnet, a.k.a. a Zaza
• a Bijou: gin, sweet vermouth and green chartreuse
• a Negroni
• if you’re in Madrid, a Media Combinación: equal parts gin and vermouth with Angostura and a small measure of red curaçao

Explore other things mixed with sweet vermouth:

• a Manhattan: bourbon or rye and sweet vermouth
• an Adonis: sherry, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.

Or keep the gin and swap in a lighter vermouth:

• a Gin and French: like an Gin & It but with dry (French) vermouth rather than sweet; is it just me or is this just a 50:50 martini by another name?
• a Dry Martini