22 gin mixers to try when you don't have (or like) tonic
Feb 28, 2024
Here at Craft Gin Club, we love a classic gin and tonic. But we always get asked, “What mixers go well with gin when you don’t like tonic?”
Luckily, we also love being creative with gin mixers and inventing new and delicious ways to enjoy our favourite spirit.
In fact, our Gin of the Month boxes always contain mixers that can be used as an alternative to tonic alongside the tonic for our monthly Perfect G&T.
When it comes to gin mixers, the combinations can certainly go far beyond your classic gin and orange juice. The possibilities are endless but this guide to gin-and-mixer combos is a fantastic place to start your journey.
We can’t wait for you to get stuck into these new, exciting and easy-to-find gin mixers.
So, if you run out of tonic, would like to try a twist on your usual G&T, or have never been a huge fan of tonic in the first place, here’s our list of 22 of the best mixers for gin.
Oh, and don’t forget you can browse the Craft Gin Club online shop for dozens of delicious and unusual new mixers for your gin cocktails at any time here.
Bottoms up!
Gin goes fantastically well with citrus (as we know from the classic garnishes of lime or lemon).
Bitter lemon is a popular alternative among those who don’t particularly enjoy the taste of tonic, and it’s handy to have in the cupboard as it goes well with most gins, particularly, of course, the citrus-led ones.
We love the combination of gin and ginger beer, and it’s fast becoming one of the hottest trends in the world of gin.
You can add this warming mixer to pretty much any gin, too, although we like it best with a spiced or winter gin, as it brings out all of those lovely botanicals like cinnamon, cardamom and orange. It’s also an ideal mixer for rhubarb and ginger gin (homemade or shop-bought).
Gin and ginger ale (with some added herb garnishes for extra flavour) is also a lovely, more subtle combination.
Ok, it’s a bit of a cheat to call vermouth a mixer, but you can’t go wrong with a gin Martini!
This quintessential 2-ingredient gin cocktail is beloved not only for its classic flavour but for being ridiculously simple to make.
Just take 50ml gin and 15ml of dry vermouth, stir (don’t shake!) and strain into a glass. Pop a slice of lemon in as a garnish and you’re ready to sip.
Of course, you can make a Martini as ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ as you like, by changing the ratio of gin to vermouth, and lots of delicious twists on the classic recipe, too.
Check out our guide to the perfect Martini for more inspiration!
Lime juice, lime cordial and even bitter lime are all equally happy bedfellows of gin.
If you have a bottle of gin and some lime cordial or fresh lime juice in your home, then you’ve got the makings of a gin Gimlet!
Combine three parts gin with one part cordial or juice, stir, sip and enjoy.
If you’re feeling creative, you can also add a touch of homemade magic to your Gimlet recipe, by simmering equal parts fresh lime juice and caster sugar over low heat until you have a lime simple syrup - delicious!
Lime cordial is a yummy and totally acceptable option to use as a mixer for your gin.
The citrus fruit strikes again! Gin and grapefruit juice is a delicious combination, particularly if you are a fan of tart, almost bitter, citrus flavours.
Top up with prosecco and you’ve made yourself a refreshing gin-based grapefruit cocktail!
Opt for ruby red juice rather than white to give your drink an extra layer of flavour.
Not a fan of the bitter quinine taste that tonic brings? Satisfy that sweet tooth with a gin and pink lemonade!
Yes, this pretty, tasty mixer makes the ultimate summer drink. Garnish with some sweet, juicy strawberries, raspberries or, if you like a little tang of tartness to offset the sugar, a little stalk of rhubarb.
Alternatively, add a splash of elderflower cordial and some fresh peach slices and you’ve got yourself a dreamy pink gin cocktail.
Ever wondered what to mix coke with other than rum? Well, you could do a lot worse than trying the classic cola with gin!
Topping up gin with your favourite brand of coke (we recommend giving Artisan Drinks Barrel Smoked Cola a go!), along with a few dashes of orange bitters or 15ml of fresh lime juice, and plenty of ice, can make a refreshing alternative to a straight G&T.
We have a mouthwatering gin and coke cocktail recipe here!
Soda is an easy and surprisingly different mixer for gin but by no means a new one.
Back in the 1920s, a Gin Rickey, which is 50ml of gin topped up with soda water and a squeeze or two of fresh lime in a highball glass, was the fashionable drink of choice for the Bright Young Things.
Very similar to a gin and tonic, this is more of a savoury, zesty drink with no real sweetness, but very refreshing and without the slightly bitter taste of the quinine sometimes found in tonic water.
For extra flavour, bitter lime and soda is a delicious combination with a London dry gin, or you could add some fresh, muddled mint leaves and a little dash of sugar syrup for a refreshing ginny twist on the traditional Mojito!
What’s more, at only 100 calories per serve, it's a great way for those of us who are watching our waistlines to enjoy our favourite spirit!
For a tart, dry mixer for your gin, try cranberry juice!
If you have the time and inclination, this could be made by blending and sieving fresh cranberries, but otherwise, shop-bought juice is fine.
We like to mix our gin and cranberry juice with a twist and squeeze of fresh lemon or lime to give it added zing, particularly if your juice has added sweeteners.
Think ‘gin and juice cocktail’ and you could be excused for not immediately thinking of the Red Snapper! So, let us introduce you.
If you haven’t heard of a Red Snapper before then you can’t be blamed because it has long been overshadowed by the Bloody Mary.
But, by swapping the vodka for gin, the classic is transformed into a botanical wonder packed full of ginny joy!
If possible, make your own tomato juice by par-boiling, blitzing and straining a couple of really ripe, fresh tomatoes.
You could skip this bit but making your own juice creates unbeatable flavour and has a more pleasant, thinner texture than many of the thicker shop-bought tomato juices, which can make it seem like you’re drinking pasta sauce!
For optimum flavour, add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a squeeze of lemon and a few drops of Tabasco. Alternatively, try ready-spiced tomato juice.
You can find the perfect Red Snapper gin and tomato juice recipe at this link.
Prosecco plus gin makes for a boozy, bubbly, beautiful pairing.
Simply add your sparkling wine, a squeeze of lemon and some honey to your gin for a deliciously sweet and refreshing concoction, or try your hand at one of these gin and prosecco cocktail recipes.
Would it be too cheeky to suggest Champagne or Cava as a gin ‘mixer’ too?
Champagne is slightly drier and less sweet than prosecco so we like to enjoy it with gin and with something like elderflower syrup or raspberry liqueur to create a lovely, well-balanced drink.
Cava (the Spanish equivalent of Champagne or Prosecco) also makes for a splendid cocktail mixer with gin.
Gin and coffee as a combination is not everyone’s, erm, “cup of tea”, but we think that it can work well.
You must use high-quality gin and high-quality coffee (we recommend staying away from instant coffee for this).
For a ginny take on a classic espresso martini, simply shake up your usual espresso with ice, a dash of coffee liqueur and your usual serve of gin, then strain into a coupe glass. Et voila! A fabulous new take on this cocktail party staple.
You can find our full Gin Espresso Martini recipe here.
Ok, so this one is a bit tongue in cheek, as we wouldn’t usually want to hide the subtle flavours of a fantastic craft gin with such a potent mixer!
However, gin cocktails featuring Scotland’s “other national drink” aren’t unpopular - you can find three of the most popular recipes here!
What does Irn-Bru taste like?
Well, that depends on who you ask. The flavour has been described as bubble gum, orange, cream soda and tutti-fruity. Whichever you get, Irn-Bru can be a great partner to gin under the right conditions.
Gin and elderflower cocktails (using either elderflower liqueur, elderflower cordial or elderflower pressé to flavour the drink) have been gaining in popularity over the last few years.
This is partly due to the gloriously long, hot summers that require a more refreshing tipple than a warm glass of white wine.
Try these easy gin and elderflower cocktail recipes for a spring drink that provides a more delicate alternative to your G&T.
For summer in a glass, simply add freshly squeezed orange juice to your gin for a fruity, refreshing cocktail.
If you can find some in-season blood oranges, even better - the dramatic crimson colour will have your friends oohing and aahing over their martini. Discover great gin and blood orange cocktails here!
Apple juice is another classic mixer for gin.
We’ve got dozens of gin and apple juice recipes in our cocktail hub that you can browse (our favourite might be this one), but an easy apple juice and gin serving suggestion is to add lemon juice and honey to your gin and juice.
Give everything a stir with ice and you’re all set with a sweet, apple and gin cocktail that’s perfect for summer.
Even better, apple juice is a mixer that works well hot or cold.
Gently warm your apple juice with some lovely spices, add your gin and that’s it, you’ve got a wonderful winter warmer on your hands.
If you are feeling even more adventurous, you can branch out (no pun intended) into using apple cider as a mixer. Try this delicious recipe for an apple cider gin fizz.
Pineapple juice is an excellent choice of gin mixer for those with a sweet tooth.
The sweet-tart tropical profile of pineapple juice works so well with the rich juniper of a good craft gin.
Even better, top up your drink with a little prosecco and some caramelised pineapple for an easy tropical cocktail - heaven!
Earl Grey tea is a lesser-known “mixer” that deserves to be thought of in the same ranks as the other classic accompaniments to gin.
For an easy, quick Earl Grey martini, brew a pot of tea and cool it in the fridge, then pour 35ml of tea and 50ml gin into a cocktail shaker with ice, 1tsp sugar syrup and 1tsp lemon juice, stir and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Alternatively, if you have a bit more time and energy, you could try this beautiful Earl Grey tea and lavender gin cocktail.
Blitz up some fresh strawberries and lemons, combine them with your gin and chilled soda water or lemonade and you’ve got the perfect thirst-quenching cocktail to sip at a summer garden party!
And for a low-effort strawberry mixer, you simply must try Flawsome! Apple & Strawberry in Craft Gin Club’s Gin Crush. Find the recipe here.
And if you really want to double down on the strawberry flavour, try using strawberry-flavoured gin.
Crisp, bubbly and light on the boozy, hard seltzer can make a fantastic alternative mixer to tonic with your gin.
And, if it’s a flavoured hard seltzer then all the better. Whether it’s lemon, cranberry or lime-flavoured hard seltzer, they can be a great way to mix up a quick and easy gin cocktail.
We have some delicious gin and hard seltzer recipes here and here!
Whether you like fresh homemade lemonade or bubbly bought-in lemonade, it is one of the ultimate summer soft drinks, especially when mixed with gin.
Those citrusy, zesty, sweet-tart mix of lemon flavours are the perfect partners to craft gin. And, because lemonade is so versatile, you can simply swap tonic for lemonade in most standard G&T recipes.
Find a stunning lemonade and gin recipe here!
Okay, so the quality of the tipple is certainly not going to be at the level of the top-quality craft gins we feature in Craft Gin Club’s Gin of the Month boxes.
But for a bit of fun, and to make a change from your usual G&T, why not try making a homemade flavoured gin?
We’ve put together a guide to making homemade flavoured gin here.
Herbs and spices like vanilla, thyme, lavender, mint, cardamom or chilli may only need a few hours steeping in the gin, whereas fruits, strongly flavoured vegetables and berries will probably be best left for a week or two, maybe even up to a month.
There is no hard rule about pairing a particular mixer to a particular gin, it really is down to personal taste.
That is why we must start by recommending that you experiment and find the ideal mixer and gin pairing for you.
But if you are looking for a good place to start, this guide to gin and mixer pairings is here to help…
London dry gin has that classic gin palate that we all know and love. It is rich, earthy, and bitter, often with touches of citrus, spice and floral tones. It is complex, to say the least.
That’s why recommend trying London dry gins with more delicate mixers like lemonades, soda water, hard seltzer, vermouth and white wine.
Fresh fruit and freshly squeezed fruit juice are also great places to start with London dry gin mixers.
By choosing softer mixers, you are allowing the complexity of the gin to really shine through.
Navy strength gins usually have a similar flavour profile to London dry gin. However, the flavours are much more pronounced by the higher alcohol level.
London dry gin has an ABV of around 37.5%. Navy strength gin has a minimum ABV of around 57%.
Therefore, navy strength gins are great at working with highly-flavoured mixers like cola, pink lemonade, Irn-Bru, concentrated fruit juices, coffee and Earl Grey tea.
With Old Tom’s slightly sweeter palate, it can frequent those serves usually reserved for rum and whiskey.
It mixes really well with ginger beer or ginger ale, pineapple and apple juice, and it is delicious with cola and lemonade too.
We also recommend trying Old Tom gin on its own, without any mixer at all. Simply pour over ice and sip. Or with a dash of Angostura bitters to really bring out those spice notes.
When it comes to flavoured gins, things get a little more complex as the flavour of the gin will determine your mixer.
For berry-flavoured gins, like sloe gin, strawberry gin or raspberry gin, we recommend the zest of lemonade or ginger beer to juxtapose the sweet berry flavours.
For citrus-flavoured gins, like orange gin or Sicilian lemon gin, soda water keeps things crisp, and elderflower mixers are a great way to create an elegant alternative to a gin and tonic.
For Christmas and spiced gins, with their spiced palates, ginger beer is a must-try but cranberry juice, orange juice and lemon juice are great here too.
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