Thursday, November 20, 2008

Tasty, and Medicinal Too

Recently, Foodgoat's drink of choice has been a gin and tonic, garnished with a slice of lime. The gin is Bombay Sapphire, the tonic is Canada Dry, and it all started when an Irish midwife I know mentioned that back in Ireland they used to say that a gin and tonic and a warm bath would help induce labor.

A couple sips were included in the arsenal of old wives' tales methods used to encourage GoatSpawn's well-timed arrival (just after Ladygoat's mom came in town, at the start of the weekend, after dinner, and on the Cleveland Browns' bye week), and since then, he's fixed up the cocktail regularly.

Gin and tonics was first popular with the army of the British East India Company in India. Tonic of course contains quinine, which was used prevent malaria. But since quinine was very bitter, the addition of gin made it easier going down. Modern tonic water has much less quinine, but lgin and tonics remain popular. Winston Churchill apparently once said that gin and tonics saved "more Englishmen's lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire."

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:39 PM

    I've been drinking gin allot but i never thought this way. Thanks for bringing out this tip. And not just a tip- A medicinal tip!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:34 PM

    Bombay Sapphire, excellent choice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Who knew that gin has these healing properties! I tested remedy containing gin, gin up candy, but never in tonic water.
    You should try it.
    Regards.
    sab - recetas faciles

    ReplyDelete