How To Make Vegan Gin Cocktails (Fizz, Sours, G&T, Martini & Negroni)

Vegan Gin Cocktails – in this post I am going to be talking about all things Gin Cocktail-related. I’ll be showing you if Gin is Vegan and if some of the most popular Gin Cocktails are vegan. These Gin Cocktails will include The Gin Fizz, Gin Sours, The G&T, Gin Martini, and the Negroni (spoiler alert – traditional Negronis are not vegan). I’ll tell if you these cocktails are vegan and if they are not, I’ll show you how you can easily turn them vegan. According to Statista Gin is the fifth highest-selling liquor in the USA, and it is one of the most popular liquors to use when it comes to making a decent cocktail. So, grab some tonic sit back and let’s find out if that favorite Gin cocktail of yours is vegan or not. To start let’s answer the first question – do vegan gin cocktails even exist?

What Vegan Gin Cocktails Are Available?

There are plenty of amazing vegan gin cocktails that can be made including the following –

– Gin Fizz;

– Grapefruit Sours;

– G&T;

– Martini; and

– Negroni.

The tricks to making the above cocktails vegan include using vegan gin, Aquafaba instead of egg white, vegan tonic, vegan vermouth, and Luxxardo Bitter Rosso instead of Campari.

Are All Gins Vegan?

What about gin itself?

Not all gins are vegan, but the vast majority are vegan. For example, a rough and ready calculation for vegan vs non-vegan gins on Barnivore.com shows 95% as vegan vs just 5% as not vegan.

The main non-vegan ingredient that can be found in gin is honey. There are a few gins that contain cochineal (crushed bugs) for color or have been filtered with non-vegan fining agents such as gelatin or isinglass, but this is rare.

If you want to learn more about gin and specific gin liquor brands that are vegan, I covered this liquor in detail in my post: Is Gin Vegan? How To Really Tell Vegan Gins Apart.

Gin Cocktails

In this section, I wanted to break down my favorite Gin cocktails. I will discuss whether they are traditionally vegan and if not, how they can be made vegan – including alternative recipes you can use. I have included links to all the relevant ingredients in the recipe section for each drink.

1. Vegan Gin Fizz

A gin fizz is traditionally made by mixing gin, club soda, simple syrup, egg white, and lemon juice. A gin fizz is pretty like a gin sour but has more fizz from the club soda.

The use of egg whites is what traditionally will make this cocktail not vegan.

However, there is a vegan workaround to make your favorite Gin Fizz vegan and it is called Aquafaba.

Aquafaba is essentially the juice from a can of chickpeas/garbanzos – the starch and protein in it mean it foams up in a similar way to egg whites and so is a great vegan replacement for egg whites in cocktails.

In this post, I will be presenting two Aquafaba Gin Cocktails. This vegan Gin Fizz is the first Aquafaba gin cocktail.

Vegan Gin Fizz Recipe

– 2 tablespoons Aquafaba (from unsalted chickpeas). This is the equivalent of one egg white. You can get unsalted chickpeas on Amazon here. I have also included Amazon links to all the ingredients below.

– 1-ounce lime juice

– 2-ounces of gin – Bombay Sapphire gin is a great London dry gin that you can buy from Amazon here

– 1-ounce maple syrup – a light and delicate maple syrup like this one from Amazon works best

– 1-ounce chilled club soda

– Lime to garnish

Vegan Gin Fizz Instructions

Pour the Aquafaba into a cocktail shaker and dry shake (i.e. without ice) for thirty seconds to foam up the Aquafaba.

Add the remaining ingredients and shake for a further thirty seconds. Pour into a glass with ice and garnish with lime (or a rosemary spring if you are feeling fancy).

2. Vegan Gin Sour

A gin sour is traditionally made from gin, simple syrup, egg white, and lemon juice. Again, the use of egg white is what traditionally will make a gin sour not vegan.

The workaround to turning this cocktail vegan is again the use of Aquafaba. Yes, this is another Aquafaba Gin cocktail.

If you have read my post on sours (How To Make Vegan Whiskey, Gin, Amaretto & Pisco Sours) you will know I love vegan Aquafaba sours – whether it is made from amaretto, whiskey, gin, or pisco – but gin does work particularly well.

To take it a step further I thought I recommend one of my favorite cocktails the grapefruit gin sour.

Vegan Grapefruit Gin Sours Recipe

I have included Amazon links to all the ingredients below.

– 2-ounces gin (a London Dry like Bombay Sapphire works best like this one from Amazon)

– 3/4-ounce maple syrup like this one

– 3/4 ounce grapefruit juice – freshly squeezed works best

– 3/4 ounce lemon juice

– 2 tablespoons Aquafaba (use unsalted chickpeas to make)

What You Need To Know About Grapefruit

Like with the vegan gin fizz chickpea juice (Aquafaba) replaces the egg white.

But are there any other non-vegan ingredients in a vegan grapefruit gin sours? Well, believe it or not, grapefruit juice isn’t always vegan. What?! Yes, you read that right. I touched on it briefly in my post is orange juice vegan and is Coca-Cola vegan (Is Orange Juice Vegan? Revealing Why You Need To Know and Is Coca-Cola Vegan? Secrets To Know About Coca-Cola Drinks), but some ruby red grapefruit juices contain cochineal/carmine (which is essentially crushed bugs) to give it its red hue.

For example, Minute Maid Ruby Red Grapefruit Drink contains carmine. Here in the US, it must be labeled clearly on the label as carmine or cochineal. Outside of the US, it can be listed as many other things such as E120, natural red 4, crimson lake, and carmine lake to name a few!

If you don’t fancy squeezing grapefruits by hand for this cocktail most grapefruit juices do not contain carmine/cochineal. This 365 grapefruit juice from Amazon is just 100% grapefruit juice with nothing added. It is just something to watch out for.

Vegan Grapefruit Sours Instructions

Pour the Aquafaba into a cocktail shaker and dry shake for thirty seconds to foam up the Aquafaba. Make sure this is a dry shake with no ice – otherwise the ice will start to dilute the Aquafaba, and it won’t foam as well. Add the remaining ingredients and shake for a further 30 seconds. Pour into a glass with ice.

3. Vegan G&T

Can Vegans Drink Gin & Tonic?

Vegans can drink most gin & tonics. Most gins are vegan except for a few that contain honey or are filtered with non-vegan fining agents. Most tonic waters are vegan except for Schweppes Indian Tonic Water which contains honey.

In case you are wondering exactly what tonic water is – tonic water is basically sweetened carbonated water which contains quinine. Quinine comes from the bark of the cinchona tree and is vegan. It is what gives it a unique taste.

Vegan Gin & Tonic Recipe

– 2 ounces gin – I think Hendricks gin is great to use in a G & T. Hendricks gin is infused with rose and cucumber, which adds an extra element to a G&T, I think. You can find a bottle on Amazon here.

– 4-ounces tonic water – Fever-Tree is a great all-vegan brand. You can buy their Indian Tonic Water from Instacart here.

– Slice of lime to garnish.

Vegan G&T Instructions

Fill a tall glass with ice and add the gin. Fill to the top with tonic water and stir. Add lime as garnish.

4. Vegan Martini

A traditional martini is made from equal parts gin and vermouth. While we are here if you have ever wondered what a “dirty martini” is – well it is when a splash of olive brine or olive juice is added to the martini.

Is Vermouth Vegan?

Not all vermouths are vegan. For example, Martini & Rossi vermouths are not vegan as they are filtered with gelatin. However, vegan vermouths do exist. For example, a vegan vermouth brand is Dolin.

Vegan Martini Recipe

– 2 1/2 ounces gin – a London dry gin works best like Bombay Sapphire (Amazon link).

– 1/2-ounce vermouth – dry vermouth like this Dolin one from Amazon works well

– Olives to garnish

Vegan Martini Instructions

A gin-based martini works best stirred not shaken (sorry James Bond) as shaking the gin can affect the botanicals you want to taste. Shaking isn’t such an issue for a gin fizz or sours as the sour taste is the aim of the flavor anyway. A gin martini is all about the botanical flavors so you wouldn’t want to upset them.

Place your martini glass in the freezer to cool.

Pour the vodka and vermouth into a mixing glass with ice and stir.
Strain into the martini glass and garnish.

5. Vegan Negroni

A classic Negroni is one part gin, one part Campari, and one part vermouth and garnished with a slice of orange. If you like bitter then this is the drink for you.

Is a Negroni Vegan?

A Negroni is not vegan. One of the main ingredients in a negroni is Campari and Campari is not vegan.

Is Campari Vegan?

Campari is not vegan. There are no animal-derived ingredients used in Campari, but gelatin is used in the filtration process making Campari not vegan.

Is Campari Still Made from Beetles?

Campari no longer contains cochineal/carmine (i.e., crushed bugs). Campari traditionally used to get its red hue from cochineal/carmine, but this practice was stopped a few years ago. No artificial colors are used instead to give Campari its red hue.

Vegan Campari Alternative

A vegan Campari alternative is available, Luxxardo Bitter Rosso. Luxxardo Bitter Rosso is a vegan Italian bitter red liquor. It is made from an infusion of spices, herbs, spices, and citrus fruits.

Vegan Negroni Recipe

– 1 ounce Dolin rouge vermouth on Amazon

– 1 ounce Bombay Sapphire – a London Dry gin such as Bombay works best (you can buy Bombay gin on Amazon here).

– 1-ounce Luxxardo Bitter Rosso on wine.com

Vegan Negroni Instructions

Pour the ingredients into an old-fashioned glass with ice, stir and garnish with orange peel.

Vegan Gin Cocktails – The Final Sip

Vegan Gin Cocktails – when it comes to cocktails, I must admit it is not something I immediately think “hey is this drink vegan?”. That thought is usually overridden by the excitement of having a cocktail. Sadly, if you are vegan, it is something you must think about. All the above cocktails are not vegan in their traditional forms or if some of the most popular and traditional brands of ingredients are used to make them (for example Campari in a Negroni or Schweppes Indian Tonic Water in a G&T). Seriously, I guarantee when you go out 9/10 places where you order a G&T it will come with Schweppes Indian Tonic Water. The good news is that with a few tweaks or just some changes to ingredients all these cocktails can be made completely vegan without any compromise on flavor or texture. Just because you are vegan doesn’t mean you should have to miss out on that gin fizz or gin sour. And guess what with the above recipes you don’t have to.

…now I know.

Beverage makers may change ingredients and/or manufacturing processes. Always double-check ingredients before purchasing any beverages.

Please Drink Responsibly.

Like What You Are Reading

Need to know more? Think your favorite beer or wine is vegan? How about your favorite Vodka, Tequila, or Gin – think those are vegan? Time to find out – check out some of my other articles:

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