Pink Fig Gin Tonic

Name: Pink Fig Gin Tonic
Prep time: 3 min
Ingredients: 1.5 oz London Dry Gin; 4.5 oz Tonic Water (Indian or dry); 0.5 oz Fig Syrup; 1 splash lemon juice; 2 slices fresh fig (for garnish)

By Sina Torner / Last updated on July 21, 2022

First published on March 23, 2022

This Pink Fig Gin Tonic is a pretty sight and a fantastic sip. Colored and flavored with homemade fig syrup, it's the perfect drink to kick off the weekend.

A pink cocktail always is an eye-catcher. And this Pink Fig Gin Tonic does not only look lovely, but it also tastes amazing.

The addition of fig creates an extra layer of fruity flavors and brings a little sweetness to the highball. And the pink drink is a delicious everyday sip. However, it is even better suited as a beautiful serve on Valentine's, birthdays, or weddings.

With Gin usually not bringing much bitterness, you don't want to end up with a drink more suitable for a candy bar.

Therefore, you should keep a few things in mind when selecting the ingredients. Otherwise, the drink might turn out too sweet.

Ingredients for our Pink Fig Gin Tonic

To get a nicely balanced drink, here are a few tips. When following these when picking the ingredients, you will get this fig cocktail just right.

Best Gin for a Pink Fig Gin Tonic

You might want something more juniper-forward and not too fancy. Therefore, a classic London Dry Gin is the best option for this drink.

It won't interfere and overpower the subtle Fig flavor from the syrup. Plus, the dry Gin counterbalances the additional sweetness nicely, as well. I recommend something traditional like Sipsmith.

Tonic water

Like the Gin, the tonic water also shouldn't be too sweet. For most G&Ts, I prefer tonics less quinine-forward, like, for instance, the Mediterranean version from Fever Tree.

But in this case, such subtle quinine notes would get lost between the fig syrup and the intense juniper notes from the London Dry.

Hence, for this Pink Fig G&T, a standard Indian or even a dry tonic works best.

Fig syrup

Now, to the star of the recipe: the fig syrup.

It is made with plenty of fresh figs, boiled down with demerara sugar, and a little bit of vanilla and cinnamon. It brings a beautiful fruity sweetness to what otherwise would be a very basic Gin and Tonic.

For making about 10oz of fig syrup, you need 5 fresh figs, 1½ cups of demerara sugar, a cup of water, ½ tsp of vanilla extract, a cinnamon stick, and one tbs of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Add all these ingredients to a saucepan and boil everything down until it has a nice gooey, syrupy consistency. You can find the detailed recipe for our fig syrup here.

How to make the perfect Pink Fig Gin Tonic

To ensure that the fig syrup mixes with your Gin Tonic nicely, add the syrup, lemon juice, and Gin to your cocktail glass first.

Give everything a good stir until the syrup blends nicely with Gin and lemon juice. Only then do you add ice and top everything up with tonic water.

If you add the tonic before stirring, you will lose carbonation, and your drink falls flat. Also, if you add the ice before, it will dilute the G&T. Plus, it would complicate the process of stirring itself.

So, preparing your Pink Fig Gin and Tonic in the correct order is crucial to get a consistent color and taste.

Also, if you're not yet happy with the color of your drink, you can adjust the recipe and add a bit more syrup. But make a tester before serving it to your guests.

In case you went too far with the syrup, and your G&T turns out a little too sweet, just add an extra splash of lemon juice.