Gin & It

Italian. Nineteenth-century bars sorted vermouth into French, meaning dry and pale, and Italian, meaning sweet and red. Gin and It was shorthand for the sweet one, and the name outlived the moment when that was the default order in a London pub.

It often was, poured from bottles kept at room temperature on the back bar. Nobody has to drink it that way now. Chill the gin and the glass hard and the vermouth's raisin and bitter-orange notes still come through, just tighter and cleaner.

At a third of the glass the vermouth is not a seasoning, so buy something you would sip on its own. Carpano Antica brings vanilla and heavy spice, Cocchi Storico is lighter and more bitter, Punt e Mes adds real bite. Refrigerate whatever you open.

A Martinez keeps the same two ingredients but adds maraschino and bitters, and usually leans harder on the vermouth. Gin and It is the stripped version. Two bottles, nothing to hide behind, and a considerably shorter shopping list.

A classic Gin & It calls for 60 ml (2 oz) Gin, 30 ml (1 oz) Sweet vermouth. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard Gin & It is roughly 32% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it spirit-forward — closer to a Martini than to a beer, so sip it slowly.

A Gin & It is shaken. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.