Interview: Dario Knox

The G&T goes way back. When the British took over the governance of India in 1857, many officials came down with malaria in the new tropical climate. The cure? You guessed it: the G&T. Back then, tonic water was heavily infused with quinine, which alleviates the symptoms of the malaria but tasted awful. To combat that, the Brits added gin, sugar, ice and a touch of citrus to make the drink more palatable.

But the simplest things are often the hardest to get right. Today, the G&T is made with two ingredients and many people wouldn’t even classify it as a cocktail because it’s such a no-brainer – but that’s exactly why I love it.

Everyone can make a G&T but making a good one is not as easy as it sounds. I wanted to create a drink that shows how small details can make a huge difference. I call it the reverse gin and tonic. Usually, people pick the gin first and then choose a tonic – but I take the opposite approach. I make my own tonic with the same botanicals of a gin and mix one part of gin to three parts of this tonic. I give carbonation to the whole drink, dehydrate some of the citrus botanicals and set them on fire, finishing off the drink with a layer of gentle, zesty smoke.