Quiz of the Day
Gin & Cocktails
Saturday, 13 June 2026
World Gin Day — cocktail history, spirit origins, bartending trivia
1. What is the primary botanical flavouring in gin?
- Coriander
- Juniper berries
- Citrus peel
- Angelica root
By law, gin must be predominantly flavoured with juniper berries — without juniper, it is simply flavoured vodka. Juniper berries are not actually berries but the female seed cones of the juniper plant. A typical London Dry Gin uses between 6 and 10 different botanicals.
2. In which country did gin originate?
- England
- France
- Scotland
- The Netherlands
Gin evolved from 'jenever', a Dutch juniper-flavoured spirit dating to the 16th century. English soldiers fighting in the Thirty Years' War discovered it and brought the taste home — giving us the phrase 'Dutch courage'. When Dutch-born William of Orange became King of England in 1689, gin's popularity exploded.
3. What period in 18th-century London was caused by unregulated gin production?
- The Spirit Epidemic
- The Liquor Wars
- The Great Stink
- The Gin Craze
During the Gin Craze (1720s-1750s), Londoners consumed an average of 10 litres of gin per person per year. Signs read 'Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence'. William Hogarth's famous engraving 'Gin Lane' depicted the social devastation. Parliament passed five major acts trying to control consumption.
4. What classic cocktail combines gin, vermouth, and is typically garnished with an olive?
- Gin Fizz
- Negroni
- Martini
- Tom Collins
The Martini is often called the 'king of cocktails'. James Bond famously orders his 'shaken, not stirred', though most bartenders insist stirring is correct as shaking bruises the gin and over-dilutes it. The ratio of gin to vermouth has grown drier over the decades — Winston Churchill reportedly just glanced at the vermouth bottle.
5. What was gin and tonic originally used for?
- As a hangover cure
- A celebratory toast
- To prevent malaria in tropical British colonies
- As a cooking ingredient
British soldiers and colonists in India mixed gin with their daily dose of antimalarial quinine tonic water to make the bitter medicine palatable. They added lime and sugar too, creating the G&T. Modern tonic water contains far less quinine than the original — you would need to drink about 60 litres of today's tonic to get a medicinal dose.
6. What cocktail is made with gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth in equal parts?
- Manhattan
- Boulevardier
- Negroni
- Old Fashioned
The Negroni was allegedly invented in 1919 when Italian Count Camillo Negroni asked his bartender to strengthen his Americano cocktail by replacing the soda water with gin. The bartender added an orange garnish instead of lemon to mark the new drink. It became one of the world's most ordered cocktails.
7. What does 'London Dry Gin' refer to?
- Gin made exclusively in London
- Gin aged in oak barrels
- The driest gin available
- A style of gin with no added sugar after distillation
London Dry Gin is a production method, not a geographical designation — it can be made anywhere in the world. The 'dry' means no sweeteners are added after distillation, and all flavours must come from natural botanicals added during distillation. Much of the world's London Dry Gin is actually made outside London.
8. What classic cocktail mixes gin with elderflower liqueur, cucumber, and mint?
- Gimlet
- Bramble
- Eastside
- Southside
The Eastside is a modern classic that emerged from New York's cocktail renaissance in the 2000s. It is a variation of the Southside (gin, lime, mint) with the addition of cucumber and sometimes elderflower. The cocktail revival of the early 2000s brought back gin as a premium spirit after decades of vodka dominance.
9. What is the name of the tall gin cocktail made with lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water?
- Gin Rickey
- Singapore Sling
- Tom Collins
- Gin Buck
The Tom Collins dates to the 1870s and was popularised by a bizarre hoax called 'The Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874', where people would tell friends that a man named Tom Collins was saying terrible things about them at a nearby bar. When the victim went looking, the bartender would serve them the drink instead.
10. What is the minimum alcohol content required for a spirit to be legally called gin in the EU?
- 25% ABV
- 37.5% ABV
- 30% ABV
- 40% ABV
EU regulations require gin to be at least 37.5% ABV (alcohol by volume), while in the US the minimum is 40% ABV. Navy Strength gin, historically supplied to the Royal Navy, is 57% ABV — this was the proof at which gunpowder soaked in the spirit would still ignite, ensuring the gin had not been watered down.
11. Which cocktail, created in Singapore's Raffles Hotel, features gin, cherry liqueur, and pineapple juice?
- Singapore Sling
- Mai Tai
- Tiki Punch
- Planter's Punch
The Singapore Sling was created around 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel. The original recipe was lost for decades, and the hotel had to recreate it from memory and old notes. Today, Raffles Hotel serves about 1,000 Singapore Slings per day.
12. What is a 'botanical' in the context of gin production?
- A type of glass bottle
- A type of still
- A plant-derived ingredient used for flavouring
- A fermentation process
Beyond juniper, common gin botanicals include coriander seed, angelica root, orris root, citrus peel, cardamom, and liquorice. Some modern craft gins use exotic botanicals like Japanese cherry blossom, Australian wattle seed, or South African rooibos. Hendrick's famously uses cucumber and rose petals.
13. What is the origin of the word 'cocktail' as a mixed drink?
- Named after a Mexican princess called Coctel
- Its origin is genuinely disputed and uncertain
- From the French word for egg cup
- Named after a rooster's tail feathers used as garnish
The first known printed definition of 'cocktail' appeared in a New York newspaper in 1806: 'a stimulating liquor composed of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters'. Despite dozens of colourful origin stories involving rooster tails, egg cups, and Mexican princesses, etymologists agree the true origin remains a mystery.
14. What prohibition-era establishment served alcohol illegally?
- A speakeasy
- A blind pig
- A gin palace
- Both a blind pig and a speakeasy
During US Prohibition (1920-1933), an estimated 100,000 speakeasies operated in New York City alone — more than double the number of legal bars before Prohibition. The term 'speakeasy' came from the practice of speaking quietly about such places. Ironically, Prohibition is credited with popularising cocktails because mixed drinks helped disguise the taste of terrible bootleg spirits.
15. What is the Gimlet cocktail traditionally made with?
- Gin and lime cordial
- Gin and tonic water
- Gin and grapefruit
- Gin and orange juice
The Gimlet is believed to be named after Surgeon Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette, who reportedly mixed gin with Rose's Lime Cordial to help sailors consume their anti-scurvy lime rations. Rose's Lime Juice, patented in 1867, was the first commercially preserved fruit juice and became mandatory on British naval vessels.