Gunga Din

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Cocktail History

The Gunga Din is a modern tiki cocktail that was created by St. John Frizell at Fort Defiance in New York City, New York. Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s literary work, the recipe is a clever tiki-inspired variation of the classic Gin & Tonic that features all of the same ingredients of the original plus a couple of wild cards, such as Scottish gin and cardamom pods, which are native to India and offer a unique herbal twist.

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Cocktail Ingredients

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Tonic Water: This is a carbonated water that has been infused with quinine. I used Fitch & Leedes Indian Tonic Water.

Scottish Gin: This is a spirit made in Scotland with juniper berries, botanicals, and alcohol. The recipe specifically calls for a Scottish gin, but I used Malfy Gin Originale.

Pineapple Juice: This is the liquid juice of a pineapple. I used fresh pineapple juice.

Lime Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lime. I used freshly squeezed lime juice.

Simple Syrup: This is a sweetener made with white sugar and water. I made mine using this stovetop recipe.

Cardamom Pods: This is a spice native to India that is made from the seeds of several plants. I used McCormick Gourmet Whole Cardamom Pods.

Pineapple Fronds: This the leaf of a pineapple.

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Bartending Tools

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:

Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. I used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. I used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. I used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.

Chef’s Knife: This is used to cut larger fruits and vegetables into slices for the garnish. I used the OXO Good Grips 8-Inch Chef’s Knife.

Pineapple Corer: This is used to remove the core of the pineapple before it’s juiced. I used the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Pineapple Corer.

Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. I used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.

Juicer: This is used to juice citrus, fruits, and vegetables. I used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer for the citrus and the Hamilton Beach Large Juicer for the pineapple.

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Tasting Notes

This cocktail has the following flavor profile:

• Appearance: Pale yellow-green color

• Aroma: Faint tropical fruit and botanicals

• Taste: Herbal gin and sour tonic flavor rounded out with fruity pineapple and citrus

• Finish: Quinine bitterness and noticeable cardamom

Kendall’s Rating: ⭐⭐

Kendall’s Take: "I was intrigued to see a tiki-fied Gin & Tonic style drink, but I was skeptical that I’d like this one from the start because I’m not a big fan of tonic water’s bitter quinine flavor in general. This recipe does a pretty good job of dressing up the template: the pineapple is there to sweeten it up and the cardamom added an interesting hint of flavor. That said, I didn’t love the Gunga Din. It’s classic tiki templates all the way for me, I guess!"

A note about the name: My understanding when reading the description of the drink in the book is that it was meant to honor the character Gunga Din, not promote the obvious racism and colonialism of the British Empire depicted by Rudyard Kipling.

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Recipe

This cocktail recipe was adapted from Easy Tiki: A Modern Revival with 60 Recipes by Chloe Frechette.