This Tuesday, October 19, 2021, International Gin Tonic Day is celebrated. A global party to pay tribute to this popular drink whose origin dates back to the 19th century. As its name suggests, the base of the recipe is gin and tonic. It is true that gin and tonic is a drink with many calories, but there is a simple way to reduce them .
The precursor to the cocktail was Indian Water Tonic, a mixture of gin, water, quinine, flavorings and sweeteners. Shortly after, the English army replaced water with soda, and finally, thanks to Schweppe’s invention, the term gin and tonic was fully coined .
How to prepare a gin and tonic with fewer calories
Although it depends a lot on the preparation, in general terms, a 250 milliliter gin and tonic (5 milliliters of gin and 200 milliliters of tonic) provides 190 calories. However, these figures are highly variable depending on the variety or brands of beverages used.
On average, 200 milliliters of tonic provide 72 calories with Schwepees Original. However, if we choose Schewepees Light, the amount is reduced to 4 calories.
As for gin, it is one of the highest calorie alcoholic beverages that exist , above whiskey, tequila and rum. Just 5 milliliters provide between 100 and 130 calories.
It is not possible to reduce the caloric content as much as with a light tonic because there is no light gin . However, there are some varieties that are lower in calories, such as Xoriguer (104 calories).
Therefore, by using Schweppes Light tonic (4 calories) and a 104 calorie gin, we can have a delicious gin and tonic of only 108 calories , almost half of the 190 that a standard cocktail has.
Finally, it should be noted that after a copious lunch or dinner, the gin and tonic is the perfect cocktail . What’s more, it is the alcoholic beverage that works best to lower the heaviness of the water because 90% of the tonic is water.
