Much like last week's spate of rum trivia questions, I co-wrote a quiz all about gin last year (with the super-smart gin fanatic Kerry Greene.) And if I was sharing the rum questions, why not give you last year's gin questions as well, along with my recap writeup of them? I've obscured the answers by putting them in white text on a white background; just highlight the area between the brackets to see what's there.
1. Gin wouldn't have been carried throughout the world with such enthusiasm by the English without its ubiquitous partner, tonic water. Name tonic's antimalarial component, derived from the bark of the cinchona tree.
[quinine]
[Quinine], in addition to treating malaria, also fluoresces under UV light. (And while it is reputed to help with muscle cramps, you’d need much more of it than is present in tonic water.) A serious word of caution to those making their own tonic syrups: be very careful not to overdo the amount of [quinine], or you run the risk of poisoning drinkers with an overdose of [quinine], or cinchonism. Camper English’s CocktailSafe site has more detail.
2. Given gin's origin in the Low Countries of Europe and its close association with the UK, it's somewhat surprising that approximately half the world's gin is consumed by a country so geographically far away from these. What is this country, whose tagay drinking ritual and culture is cited by one of its lifestyle publications as a key reason gin is so popular there?
[The Philippines]
[Filipinos] consume about 1.4 liters of gin per capita per year, approximately six times the amount of the average American. (This fascinating stat is from Tristan Stephenson’s The Curious Bartender’s Gin Palace, citing the International Wine and Spirit Record.) Most of this gin is Ginebre San Miguel, which is the most popular gin in the world, moving some 11.3 million cases annually.
Here’s a good explanation of the tagay ritual, in which a designated pourer refills one communal glass, which each of the participants down in turn. And this slightly more scholarly look at the tradition notes that [Filipinos] don’t usually say “cheers”, because one person is drinking at a time.
3. Orris root is an expensive botanical used in many gins, including Martin Miller's and Tarquin's. Although in powdered form it smells like violets, it is actually the root of what similarly colored flower?
[Iris]
Orris was widely used as a reputed fixative in perfumes (but it turns out that there’s no scientific basis for that.) Gin Foundry says:
Distilled, orris root retains its floral notes, but it also carries an earthy, dusty sweetness that falls somewhere in the middle of grass and hay. The nose is dry, sweet and clean, while the mouth is strong, sweet and woody – similar in taste to liquorice sticks. Much like liquorice, orris has cheek filling qualities and is capable of adding depth and texture to a gin.
[Iris]/orris is poisonous, so I wouldn’t use it as a garnish.
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