What does your weekend G&T share with colonial India’s battle in opposition to malaria? Quite a bit, really. The gin and tonic, now an iconic cocktail, owes its origins to the struggle in opposition to malaria throughout the British Raj within the nineteenth century.
Gin & Tonic’s Shocking Indian Origin
Within the 1800s, malaria posed a lethal risk to British troops and officers stationed in India. The one identified treatment was quinine, extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree. Though extraordinarily bitter, quinine successfully handled and prevented the illness. To make the drugs extra palatable, the British blended quinine with water and sugar, creating what we now recognise as tonic water. Nevertheless, the bitterness lingered. British officers quickly started including their rationed gin, lime, and sometimes sugar or soda, leading to a extra fulfilling and drinkable concoction.
This mixture not solely masked quinine’s harsh style however served an essential medicinal goal. As British affect expanded globally, so did the recognition of the gin and tonic. By the twentieth century, it had left its medicinal roots behind, turning into synonymous with summer season evenings, refined tastes, and colonial nostalgia. Over time, the gin and tonic advanced right into a ritual, refreshment, and social treatment mixed, notably interesting throughout India’s harsh summers.
Growth in India’s Gin Market
As of 2025, India’s gin market is estimated to be value round $1.79 billion and is projected to develop to roughly $2.95 billion by 2032, at a compound annual development fee (CAGR) of about 7.4%, in response to Coherent Market Insights. This development is primarily pushed by growing disposable incomes, shifting preferences amongst youthful drinkers, and the booming cocktail tradition throughout India’s metropolitan cities. “India’s gin renaissance is not about catching up, it’s about carving out a brand new international id. With the gin class projected to the touch practically $3 billion by 2032, what’s actually thrilling is that Indian distillers are not following international cues. We’re now setting them,” mentioned Shekhar Swarup, Jt. Managing Director of Globus Spirits, the makers of the Indian gin TERAI.
Including momentum to this rise is India’s thriving craft gin revolution. Homegrown manufacturers like Jaisalmer, TERAI, Stranger & Sons, Larger Than, Samsara and Jin Jiji are creatively experimenting with native botanicals resembling tulsi, gondhoraj lemons, mulberry, and tea leaves. This exploration of uniquely Indian flavours appeals to a rising shopper base excited about artisanal, domestically crafted spirits, and aligns with the worldwide traits in direction of authenticity, sustainability, and cultural pleasure.
As an illustration, within the class of flavoured gins, the primary Restricted Version launch within the ‘TERAI – The BAAGH Explorations’ vary is ‘Expression 01: Contemporary Litchis & Mulberries’. This vivid, layered spirit opens with the juiciness of ripe litchis and the depth of mulberries with delicate hints of rose and lavender for a well-balanced, flavourful profile.
Speaking concerning the newest addition, Swarup mentioned, “At TERAI India Dry Gin, our imaginative and prescient is to raise India’s wealthy agricultural variety and botanical abundance into craft expressions that resonate far past our borders. Our new vary of Restricted Editions, The BAAGH Explorations, is rooted on this very thought. It’s a journey to the farms of the SWARUP household in Jarauda, Uttar Pradesh, expressed by way of these pleasant small batch distillates. This journey celebrates the land, the craft & the love that binds the household collectively… Greater than only a flavoured gin, Terai India Craft Gin – Litchi & Mulberries is an invite to expertise India by way of its seasons, scents, and tales. Globally, drinkers are shifting past impartial profiles, they’re in search of boldness, provenance, and which means in each sip.”
What started as a colonial coping mechanism has reworked right into a booming way of life pattern in modern India. On World Gin Day 2025, every G&T poured is greater than a refreshing drink—it’s a toast to India’s progressive spirit and its fascinating journey by way of historical past. With homegrown manufacturers gaining worldwide acclaim and a growth within the home market, the way forward for Indian gin seems to be promising, each at residence and on the worldwide stage.
