Upgrade your gin and tonic with the perfect garnish. In this handy gin garnish guide, we’ll teach you how to match your garnish to your drink and share our top tips for creating the perfect garnish. A great garnish is essential to enhancing you G&T, and the easiest way to give the full gin experience in a glass.
You drink with your eyes and nose
Gin is a sensorial drink: it engages sight, smell, and taste.
By immersing all the senses, you don’t just drink a Beefeater & Tonic, you experience it. The cool condensation on the glass. The clinking ice cubes. The fizzing tonic. The juicy and fragrant fruits. The aromatic display of garnish. The refreshing juniper on the palate.
G&Ts are timeless for a reason: they are an experience in a glass. In order to do that, a G&T must have all the important elements. Starting with the most crucial item: Beefeater gin, then you should have a refreshing tonic, add lots of ice and the final touch, the garnish.
But first things first, what is a garnish?
A garnish is the a finishing touch in food and drinks. Think of a basil leaf on a pizza or a drizzle of dressing on a salad. It’s the final flourish to make the mouth water and bring some freshness to your dish or drink. When selecting a garnish for a Beefeater and Tonic, we’ve taken the reins and offer some advice.
HOW DO I CHOOSE THE RIGHT GARNISH FOR MY GIN?
The gin! If you are unsure what garnish should accompany your G&T, a great place to start is the gin itself. Take a look at the botanicals used in the gin and any flavours added before or after distillation. You want your garnish to enhance and complement the gin- not fight with it.
THE CLASSIC GARNISH: FRESH FRUIT
Adding fruit is the simplest (yet most effective!) way to garnish a G&T. When it comes to which kind, always refer back to your gin for inspiration. For example, if the gin is citrus-forward, take a look at what kind of citrus is used.
In Beefeater London Dry’s recipe we have 9 botanicals, including sweet lemon peel and Sevillian bitter orange peel. So when it comes to a garnish, we love our B&Ts with a slice of both lemon and orange!
If you are trying one of our flavoured gins, pick the fruit that’s in the gin. Don’t worry, we’ve created a cheatsheet below. Sliced strawberries for Beefeater Pink Strawberry, a couple of blackberries for Beefeater Blackberry… you get the idea.
Gin & Tonic |
Suggested Garnish |
| Beefeater London Dry | Lemon and orange wheel |
| Beefeater 24 | Grapefruit slice (& sprig of rosemary) |
| Beefeater Crown Jewel | Grapefruit slice |
| Beefeater Pink Strawberry Gin | Halved strawberries and sprig of mint |
| Beefeater Blood Orange | Blood Orange wheel and sprig of basil |
| Beefeater Peach & Raspberry | Peach slice and raspberries |
| Beefeater Rhubarb & Cranberry | Lime wheel (fresh or dried) |
| Beefeater Zesty Lemon | Slice of lemon (& sprig of lemonthyme) |
| Beefeater Blackberry | Fresh blackberry |
how do i prepare fruit for a garnish?
You want the get all the benefit of your garnish, without turning your drink into a smoothie. Follow our advice on how best to prepare your fruit garnishes:
- Select fresh, ripe fruit for your drink
- Large fruit like oranges and peaches should be sliced- selecting the middle slices for your drink
- Medium fruits like strawberries can either be cut into thin slices, or halved
- Small fruits like berries can be popped in whole
CAN I USE DRIED FRUIT FOR A GARNISH?
Dried, or dehydrated, fruit is still packed with those essential oils, but will be more subtle on the nose, especially citrus fruits. They also have a longer shelf life and are great if your garnish is harder to find in a regular supermarket.
How can I spice up my drink?
Adding other spices are a great way to enhance the flavours and build on sensations when drinking at G&T.
ADDING JUNIPER AS A GARNISH
Juniper ‘Berries’ are actually seed cones rather than a berry, but work very well in a G&T when you fancy emphasising the traditional juniper flavour. Afterall, you absolutely cannot have gin without juniper.
If the gin is especially juniper-forward, dropping a few juniper berries in your G&T will emphasise that – just make sure to squeeze them before adding as this is what releases their essential oils!
ADDING PEPPER AS A GARNISH
Black peppercorns can also be added to bring out the peppery coriander seeds that feature in many gins, including Beefeater.
BTW: Hot gin cocktails go extremely well with spices – try a cinnamon stick or cloves in your next gin toddy!
Which herbs are good in a G&T?
Fresh mint, basil, thyme and rosemary can be wonderful additions especially when used with citrus. So why not play around and find your perfect combination straight from the herb garden?
To ensure maximum sensory overload, smack your sprigs. Yes, you read correctly. This will release their oils and give you a fresh oomph of herby goodness.
Word to the wise: stay away from parsley – this is gin, not soup. Also, whilst we are here, please leave the jar of Mixed Herbs (that’s been sitting in the cupboard for five years) alone. Just trust us on this one.
Which flowers can I put in my G&T?
There are several edible flowers that word really well in a G&T. Now we don’t mean add a full floral arrangement to your G&T, but some elements can work really beautifully with gin.
In some gins, you may find the flavour or aroma to be a little floral. In this case, flowers such as lavender and violets can bring out more of those flavours and make your G&T very Instagrammable.
Waste not, want not!
At Beefeater, we hate wasting perfectly good ingredients. So we suggest that you freeze any garnish that would potentially go to waste. Cut up your fruit, flowers or herbs and use large ice cube moulds to freeze them. It’s basically hitting two birds with one ice cube. Not only will your G&T stay chilled, you will also get your garnish. Work smarter, not harder.
Glassware and Garnish
Using the correct glass for a G&T will help the garnish shine. We recommend a copa glass or a highball glass to ensure the aromas of the gin and garnish smack you in the face (metaphorically of course).
ALL COCKTAILS HERE