How To Drink Monkey 47 Gin

The best ways to drink Monkey 47 are either neat or combined with tonic water in a Monkey 47 Gin and Tonic. This way, you have the best chance to recognize the individual flavors of Monkey 47 and enjoy the botanical complexity of the gin.

If you want to imbibe Monkey 47 in cocktails, check out the drink recipes we prepared for you in this article.

The best ways to drink Monkey 47

To highlight the complexity of the gin, the two best ways to serve Monkey 47 are either neat or in a Gin and Tonic.

Drinking it neat and at room temperature is by far the best way to catch as many botanical ingredients as possible. That is what makes this gin so unique. You get something new with every sip. If you're not the investigating type, sit back and enjoy how all these flavors blend.

Monkey 47 & Tonic is another excellent way to enjoy the gin. Of course, the taste also depends on your choice of tonic. Further, the garnish can also play a notable role when crafting the perfect Gin and Tonic with Monkey gin.

We put together some recommendations below, and you can also find a list of the best cocktails you can make with Monkey 47.

Monkey 47 Gin and Tonic

Combined with the ideal tonic water, you can highlight the botanical diversity of the gin perfectly. So, which tonic water goes best with Monkey 47? My favorite is Fever-Tree Mediterranean. -It's a great match for Monkey Gin and highlights its herbal and floral flavor.

If you're looking for a slightly more classic tonic, I recommend 1724 tonic water from Argentina or Thomas Henry, Indian tonic water from Germany.

The best way to garnish this Monkey 47 Gin and Tonic are ingredients that complement both, the gin and the tonic water. For instance, with the Mediterranean tonic, I like to garnish the drink with fresh mint and lemon peel. -You can also consider adding some fresh blackberries.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Monkey 47 Gin
• 4.5 oz Fever-Tree Mediterranean
• Mint, lemon peel, and blackberries for garnish

Instructions:

1. Add the gin to a Gin and Tonic balloon glass filled with ice.
2. Add tonic water and gently stir the mix.
3. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint, lemon peel, and some blackberries.

Monkey 47 Martini

A classic Dry Martini is an excellent vehicle to showcase the complexity of a gin. Naturally, this Monkey Martini makes an excellent job of putting the 47 botanicals in the limelight.

The recipe for this Monkey 47 cocktail is exactly the same as our recommended one for any dry Martini. A ratio of 5:1, 5 parts Monkey 47 Gin to 1 part Dolin Dry Vermouth. Stirred on ice and served in a Martini glass, I like to garnish the drink with an olive speared on a cocktail pick.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 oz Monkey 47 Gin
• 0.5 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth

Instructions:

• Pour gin and dry vermouth into a mixing glass with ice.
• stir for 30-45 seconds
• Strain into a Martini glass and garnish with an olive.

Scarlett's Bees Knees 

This classic Bees Knees based on Monkey 47 is a beautiful combination of herbal complexity with sweet honey flavors and just enough acidity to balance everything.

I first made this drink with Monkey 47's Distiller's Cut from 2021, featuring Scarlet Monarda, also called bee balm, as a signature ingredient. The standard bottle contains this elegant and slightly peppery flower in a smaller dose. 

By garnishing the cocktail with one of these intensely fragrant flowers, you can emphasize the distinct notes of bee balm even more.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Monkey 47 Gin
• 1 oz Honey syrup
• 0.75 oz Fresh lemon juice
• Lemon zest or Scarlet Monardo flower as garnish

Instructions:

• Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
• Shake for 10-12 seconds.
• Strain into a coupe glass and add your garnish.

Gin Daisy

The classic and simple Gin Daisy is definitely among the best Monkey 47 cocktail recipes. In this case, we use Green Chartreuse to bring even more herbal flavors into the cocktail. 

To complement the herbal flavors with citric notes, the cocktail contains fresh lemon and lime juice and just enough sugar syrup to balance it all.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Monkey 47 Gin
• 0.5 oz Green Chartreuse
• 0.25 oz Fresh lemon juice
• 0.25 oz Fresh lime juice
• 1 bsp Simple syrup
• 0.5 oz Soda water

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients except soda water in a shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake for 10-12 seconds, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass.
3. Top with soda water and garnish with fresh lemon peel.

Monkey Mai Tai

This one is for the more adventurous cocktail drinkers: A tiki cocktail based on Monkey 47. Together with dry curaçao, falernum, and orgeat syrup, this cocktail packs some beautiful tiki vibes.

The drink is floated with overproof rum to bring the classic tiki vibes. You can make it with either crushed or pebbled ice, though I prefer crushed ice.

Ingredients:

• 1.75 oz Monkey 47 Gin
• 0.5 oz Falernum
• 0.5 oz Dry Curaçao
• 0.5 oz Orgeat syrup
• 0.5 oz Overproof rum
• 0.75 oz Lime juice
• Fresh mint

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients except overproof rum into a cocktail shaker filled with crushed or pebbled ice.
2. Shaker for 2-3 seconds and dirt-dump the whole content of the shaker into a Double Old Fashioned glass.
3. Top up with more ice and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

How does Monkey 47 Gin taste?

Monkey 47 is a gin with a complex flavor profile that includes herbal, floral, and spicy flavors but also a potent dose of juniper. 

When you open the bottle, you will be greeted with a variety of aromas, it's almost overwhelming and hard to detect all the individual notes. There are fresh, minty, herbal notes with lots of junipery, almost piney aromas. I also get sage, lemon verbena, hibiscus, lime, lemongrass, and also hints of eucalyptus.

On the palate, strong piney juniper pairs with herbal notes, lime, cardamom, pepper, spruce, and more eucalyptus. Overall, it's again quite a challenge to tell all the different flavors apart since a lot is going on. 

The bold flavors are partly due to the sheer number of botanicals in the gin but also partly due to a whopping 47% of alcohol in it. This high amount of booze in Monkey 47 helps to pronounce the existing flavors even more.

Conclusion

It is fair to say that Monkey 47 is no ordinary gin. Usually, gin is infused with 4 to 12 botanicals. In comparison to similar gins like Hendrick's or Bombay, Monkey 47 relies on significantly more. As many as 47 different botanicals provide a flavor complexity that is difficult to find in other gins. 

This complexity always shines through, the best ways to drink Monkey 47, though, are neat, on the rocks, or in a Gin and Tonic.

Related Articles:

• Overview of all Monkey 47 Distiller Cut releases
• Dried pineapple flower garnish
• The history of Gin and Tonic