A Memorable Glass of Gin

Once there was a lady called Mrs. P.  She had been working at a Japanese company in London for long time, and everyone loved her personality – humorous and fun-loving, relaxed and never swaggering during her long career at the company.

One day, a staff of the company organized BBQ at her house, and many guests enjoyed the BBQ including Mrs. P. There were about twenty of us, including children. Drinks for toast have been served, and host of the BBQ worked on the BBQ grill, and people started eating meat and vegetable. On the day, the host prepared may drinks, including wine, beer, soft drinks and whiskey, and each of us picked and enjoyed our favourite drinks with BBQ.

It must have been around the middle of BBQ when I was chatting with Mrs, P, I became curious with what she was drinking. It was transparent drink in a whiskey glass, with a slice of lime on the edge of the glass. I asked her what she was drinking,

“Gin and Tonic” was her answer.

 

Gin and Tonic is a popular cocktail which nowadays you can find at most of Izakaya pubs in Japan. Back then, I was underaged, and never heard of gin and tonic. The name of cocktail somehow gave me a strong impression.

“This cocktail is very popular in England. You should try it once you get older” Mrs. P suggested cheerfully.

Then, suddenly, many adults who were listening to our conversation, became alarmed and hurriedly gave us a warning.

“P, you can’t suggest this to an underaged – it’s such a strong drink, not recommendable to young people at all!”

Mrs. P made a mischievous look, laughing cheerfully, saying “I am a bad influencer!” Then she disappeared off.

The man who gave us a warning was Mrs. P’s husband. According to him, gin is very strong drink and many lead to alcoholism by drinking it too much, so I must be careful with that.

Then the host of BBQ suggested to make light cocktail for the kids. I followed him into kitchen, and watched what he was making. He chopped some oranges and cucumbers, poured some red liquid and lemonade into a jug, and mixed everything with ice cubes.

“You can drink this while your parents are here. Don’t worry, this is not strong drink. But don’t drink it up. Just sip slowly.”

I took a sip. It tasted fresh orange and lemonade, and somewhere deep down, there was minty refreshing taste and a dash of alcohol. The taste, which was almost fruit juice, made me want to drink it up, but I refrained from that as the host of the house was watching me closely. Me and other children sipped it daintily. I did feel a dash of alcohol after the freshness of orange juice.

Grown-ups around us were very cheerful, saying that “Yes, it’s best to start with this drink if you are growing up in London”. I had no idea why they are so excited.

A dash of alcohol did make me tipsy. On the way home, I felt my legs were a bit wobbly. I had never expected that a dash of alcohol in orange juice gave such an impact.

Later on, I had a chance to research about gin and tonic, and I realised that Mrs. P’s husband was talking about things of long past – almost a historical fact.

Back in the old days, gin was the drink which monks in Italy have been distilling around 11^th century. It was imported to the UK from the Netherlands in 17^th century as a medicine. After a while when gin was allowed to distill without licensing, people became addicted to gin, as it became available at low price. Around 1700’s, there was gin craze in the UK, many people ruined themselves due to addiction.

William Hogarth, a British painter back in 1700’s, drew a sketch about people and gin, which shows very convincing picture that many went addicted. The sketch was probably meant for a warning against gin alcoholism.

In 19^th century, the distillation technic made a significant advance, which lead to the production of strong gin. The gin produced at this period is later known as London Gin, a type of “Dry Gin” which is one of the popular gin today. With its high alcohol percentage, gin was known as worker’s drink, as they can get drunk quite easily. However, as time goes by, gin became popular drink among those in upper class as well.

I haven't got the second chance yet to try the orange and lemonade cocktail which the host of BBQ made me. However, when I went out for the first time to drink in Japan, I chose gin and tonic. This is partly because the advice from Mrs. P was still inside of my head, and partly I was interested in the transparent liquid which the cheerful lady was drinking back then.

I thought my first gin and tonic was fantastic, with perfect mixture of light bitterness and sweetness, with sour taste of lime. 

The fact that the drink which people crazed about and lead to addiction, stayed in my mind. I tried not to drink gin at home. I kept it as the drink when I go out for drinking. It slightly disappoints me if it didn’t have a slice of lime. Maybe pub or Izakayas might have problem preparing slices of lime all the time. Sometimes I see beautiful bottles of gin at shops, such as Bombay Sapphire with their iconic blue bottles, which almost soften my decision.

Sadly Mrs. P went over to the majority. When I heard the news, I bought my first bottle of gin and made gin and tonic at home. The memory of her drinking this cocktail made me reminded of her beautiful smile, which lead me think about her husband. I hope he is coping well.

(Translation from my book in Japanese below )