Recipe: Mojito-fied Pomegranate Gin & Tonic with 18.8 Gin
Mojito-fied Pomegranate G&T
Made with 18.8 Gin
Not yet fall. Still summer. And yet the weather makes us toggle from cardigans to denim cutoffs, or sometimes I give up and just wear both. Enter: this cocktail recipe. For a time when you just don’t know what season you want to celebrate yet, this Gin & Tonic recipe is here for you. To freshen up the classic G&T (a favourite), I turned to the beloved Mojito which has Cuban origins and is most often made with rum, mint, sugar, sparkling water and lime as well. Here we brought the flavours a little closer to fall while still keeping it feeling super fresh, all by introducing pomegranate seeds and Gin from 18.8, which is noted for its blend of juniper, elderflower, spice hints and citrus. For the sugar component, I opted to use local honey for myself but you could also stay more traditional and go with sugar. In its essence, this is still a Gin & Tonic but now with almost all the accoutrements of a Mojito, plus pomegranate in a very pure form.
This gin is actually the second in the lineup from 18.8, who first burst onto the scene with Vodka, and a strong desire to make a versatile, quality, low-alcohol spirit (the percentage is true to the namesake and so there are half the calories of a standard spirit). 18.8 found their forever home for this idea in Canada when they partnered with a local distiller in the Niagara region, and then worked away at getting it right. In an interview with the founders Jakob Ripshtein and Chris Lund, they mentioned how they first noticed, “a glaring gap” for their products “between traditional spirits with 40% ABV and the ready-to-drink options at 4-6% ABV, many of which are less flavourful, taste artificial, or are packed with sugar and extra calories” and it’s so true how folks in this bracket have not been catered towards. Testing many rounds of samples in their distillation trials, the pair of Founders feel strongly in how, “most individuals don’t drink purely to get drunk—their desire is to unwind, socialize with friends and family, or make an occasion feel even more special” and that their job is to “deliver the same nose and taste profile a vodka drinker would expect, to ensure consumers didn’t feel like they were sacrificing”. In the process and thanks to the lower alcohol content, there are more bonuses like “less burn and a smoother, more palatable drinking experience—which is ideal for a neutral spirit like vodka and helps elevate the botanical flavours in our gin”. And here at ToFoodies, we are all for giving people options. From offering more plant-based menu items to varieties of alcohol intake, it is a great thing to live in an age where there is something for everyone, be it a restaurant or the LCBO.
Especially with holidays like Thanksgiving coming up, 18.8 can be there for you as a low-spirit and low-calorie option and for those who want to host and enjoy cocktails with others on new terms. And the result in this cocktail? A crowd-pleasing drink that is super smooth and refreshing, with a fun colour from pomegranate, complementary flavours and totally customizable sweetness. We portion this out by the glass, but it can be easily upsized to serve a small bunch of friends.
Ingredients (Per Cocktail)
2 oz. of 18.8 Gin
2 sprigs of mint
1 teaspoon of raw/brown sugar or honey
Tonic water
1 lime / 1 tablespoon of lime juice and one lime wedge (per cocktail)
1 Pomegranate / 2 tablespoons of pomegranate seeds (per cocktail)
Method
For starters, if you have a full pomegranate, get at those pomegranate seeds! Cut the pomegranate in half, between the two points, not cutting into them. Over a bowl, take one half and use your fingers to unfurl the main pockets of seeds and let them fall into the bowl.
Place 1 tablespoon of the pomegranate seeds in a tall glass, then top with a few leaves mint and the sugar component
. Muddle it together with a muddler.
Fill a tall glass with ice, dropping in fresh mint leave around the sides, then pour the gin and lime juice over your ice, popping in a crushed lime slice (or more!) as well.
Next, pour in the tonic water and give a good stir to waken it up.
Garnish with a lime wedge, more pomegranate seeds on top and fresh mint leaves.
In Partnership with FLUID Assets Inc.