sybarites

Can taste be hereditary?   Can one inherit one’s parents’ like or dislike of food or drink?   Rather than inheriting the taste itself, perhaps one adopts a preference as a learned behaviour, like copied mannerisms or expressions.   That would explain Marc’s enjoyment of “toutins” (pronounced: tao-tins, with a Newfoundland accent) which are risen, but unbaked, buns that are fried and eaten with jam.   Or my preference for Gran’s pancakes, made sweet and eaten cold with jam and cheddar.   And, likely, my taste for gin.

I am not particularly loyal to a brand of gin, I’m not one of these people that orders a “Tanqueray and tonic”;   I order a g&t.  And I know where that expression comes from:  Dad.  Time spent with mom and dad on the boat almost unswervingly includes happy hour which starts when Dad announces that he’s going to have a ‘wee smash’.   Mom will decline to partake but one whiff of freshly cut lime usually (but not always!) weakens her resolve: Gordon’s mixed with Schweppes.   If I’m the bartender, I try to do it right:  2 oz. gin from the freezer, no ice, lime juice from a quarter of the lime – but no rind – a hint of cold tonic.   Just show it the tonic.   That’s the hard part, the part I still can’t get quite right.

Making my own g&t, the risk of failure decreases exponentially as I’m much more flexible and/or careless with the mixing.   Some gin, 2 seconds of tonic, is this lime still good?  Though lately, I have to admit that I’ve been taking more care with the ‘wee smash’ since we started buying good tonic.   The gin, quite honestly, doesn’t make a huge difference to me, unless it is exceedingly poor quality, but the tonic, I’ve learned, makes a heap of difference.

We used to drink Schweppes; at one point, I had even tried a 6-pack of diet-tonic but boy was that a tragic waste of good gin.  Lately, we’ve started buying Fever Tree Tonic Water and now nothing else can compare.   With cane sugar and natural quinine, the difference is unexpectedly noticeable.   The last place I remember tasting a g&t so good was in Udaipur, India, taken on a balcony overlooking the lake.  So very reminiscent of the British.   Is it the quinine or the sugar that makes it taste so good?