In the words of Winston Churchill, “the gin and tonic has saved more English lives than all the doctors in the empire.” It is true, and it is that the gin and tonic is an original cocktail from British India that mixes gin and tonic water with ice. The truth is that malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes in tropical places, was doing its thing among the British population. J. Schweppe & Co. had the idea of adding quinine to their famous carbon dioxide bottled water (circa 1873), which helped people drink quinine and fight malaria. The gin and tonic with pomegranate is a variation of this original drink .
Quinine comes from the cinchona officinalis tree, native to South America. Its bark has medicinal properties, used as a medicine by the pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador. It is not clear whether it was the Dutch or the English who introduced quinine to Asia, where a thriving industry developed. The truth is that the gin and tonic is the perfect union between Europe, America and Asia.
For its part, the pomegranate is a fruit full of good things, as well as a delicious flavor. Its juice has more than 100 phytochemicals and it has also been used for centuries as a medicine . Its beautiful deep red color is due to polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that eliminate free radicals and protect cells from damage. It has abundant vitamin C (the juice of a pomegranate contains more than 40% of the daily requirement of this vitamin), and all this helps it have anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and coadjuvant properties in heart disease, since antioxidants protect the heart and arteries.
Ingredients:
How to prepare a gin and tonic with pomegranate:
- Squeeze 4 or 5 pomegranates to obtain natural juice.
- In the glass where the gin and tonic with pomegranate will be served, squeeze the ½ lemon.
- Add the gin and a handful of crushed ice . Stir.
- Add the tonic.
- Add the pomegranate juice to taste.
- Fill the glass with more crushed ice.
- Stir a little.
- Garnish with mint leaves and a lemon wedge or raspberry bits.
Prepare this gin and tonic with pomegranate and enjoy a delicious and very refreshing cocktail , but also striking and original. Use ½ lemon per prepared drink. Depending on the amount of pomegranate juice, the drink will be more or less red.
