I was asked a couple of questions when I visited Debbie (see a previous post to find out who Debbie is): What is the difference between San Pellegrino and tonic water? Is there a difference between those and soda water?
Debbie just moved into his new apartment, and like I normally do, I brought over alcohol (Tanqueray gin, to be specific).
We then looked around his (swanky!) new pad for something to mix it with.
As I’m not the type to mix decent gin with Coca-Cola, we decided to go on a more classic route and mix it with the first clear sparkling liquid we could find.
Unfortunately for this case, it was a bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling mineral water.
I have nothing against San Pellegrino, but sparkling mineral water isn’t the best thing to put with gin.
But for that moment, it had to do. We desperately needed some dimension for the gin.
“It would have gone significantly better with tonic water”, I said.
This is when the questions about differences of everyday clear sparkling beverages came about.
This is how I could best explain it:
- Sparkling Mineral Water (ex: San Pellegrino): Literally mineralised water with naturally produced bubbles
- Soda Water: Sparkling water with mineral-like ingredients added to it to give it some flavour
- Tonic Water: The bitter sparkling water which I absolutely discourage you to drink alone (pair it with gin for a cocktail classic)
I hope this helps you decide what to get for your next cocktail experiment.
Try adding cucumber to your gin and tonic for a truly refreshing drink. Perfect for lounging around the pool in this summer heat.
Let me know what your favourite cocktail mixes are with these babies. Cheers!
2 comments
Have a gin rickey. 1 shot of gin over ice, juice of a half lime (or maybe one whole kalamansi) and add soda water.
That sounds interesting. I like the “local flair” suggestion on the kalamansi. 😀
If we do that we should call it the “Pinoy Gin Rickey” or something.