The infamous debat over gin and tonic verse vodka and tonic. Is the old saying that gin is dead and vodka can be used in any drink that gin is called for and it taste better true? I plan to find out with one of the easiest to make drinks that lets each liquor show off its true taste with just a little bit of tonic water to be the chorus.
The mixture I used
2 parts gin/vodka
5 parts tonic water
1 lime wedge
I used Tanqueray for my gin and Skyy for my vodka
First taste:
Gin: Strong gin taste that overpowered the tonic water. Tasted as though I was drinking a glass of gin with some water added in, which isn't a bad thing at all seeing how this is my favorite gin, but still not what I was hoping for with the gin and tonic.
Vodka: Also a strong vodka taste, but much mellower than the gin. The drink tasted like a sweet watered down vodka martini, which was good, but still not what I was hoping for.
In both mixes, the tonic water didn't at all show up in me tastes, so I decided to squeeze the lime in and see what difference that made for each of them.
Gin: Wow. The lime juice mellowed down the gin taste and brought out the tonic water creating the mix I was hoping for. The Piney taste and the lime go together great for the initial taste as it first hits your tongue. The drink then goes down ultra smooth with no burn and a nice refreshing gin tastes left in your mouth. Marvelous! This is what I was expecting from a gin and tonic.
4.5 out of 5
Vodka: Amazing. The added lime helps this mixture even more than it helps out the gin. With the lime the vodka taste just disappears (which in all honestly isn't saying much seeing how it is vodka) but you are left with the freshness than the vodka leaves your mouth feeling after you drink it. All that is left is a sweet tonic taste and a slight sour lime bite. This drink goes down so smooth I would of never guessed that there is alcohol in it (which could get pretty dangerous). This is the drink that I will be drinking on hot summer days as it goes down so smooth and is so refreshing. But it does lack the addition of flavor that the gin adds to the gin and tonic, not that it tastes like there is anything missing in it.
4.5 out of 5
Verdict: Both of these drinks are wonderful with the added lime. The both exceeded my expectations as I was expecting there to be a large amount of alcohol burn with each of them, but the lime hid that burn nicely. Which is better you may ask, well I honestly don't know. They were both great drinks and I wouldn't be disappointed with either. I would want the vodka and tonic more on a hot summer day where as the gin and tonic I would prefer more sitting around inside with a group of friends, but they could both work both places. The bottom line is that in this case vodka isn't killing gin, they are both on equal status in my book. I guess the only option left to see which one is better will have to be the gin martini vs the vodka martini, but that is for another day and another time.
