If there’s one thing I hate about living in the Pacific Northwest, it’s the stretch of time from late October until late June, when the sun makes only the most occasional of appearances. I typically pack on an extra 10-15 pounds during those rainy months, party due to over-consumption of wintertime drinks like dark beer, egg nog, hot-buttered-anything and wassail. I wanted a drink for the winter that I could add to my cocktail menu that was more like the light, café-style cocktails I typically gravitate to during the summer.
Jerry Thomas prescribed a drink called “sangaree” that, to the best of our knowledge was a colonial adaptation of the Spanish “sangria”. The recipe, which calls for anywhere from 1½ to 4 ounces of port, Madeira, gin or brandy dolled up with sugar and dusted with nutmeg in a glass sounded less than exciting to me, but the challenge of updating this old chestnut sounded like a fun January task.
We began with ruby and tawny ports but found both way too sweet. White port got us much closer to our target, but it wasn’t until a healthy dose of dry vermouth was applied that we knew we were on to something. To provide additional depth and hint at the drink’s colonial origins we sweetened with a maple-nutmeg syrup and finished the whole thing off with a teaspoon of allspice liqueur and orange oil.
The Dry Vermouth Sangaree
3 oz dry vermouth
½ oz maple-nutmeg syrup*
1 tsp St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 large strip orange peel
Shake everything – yes, even the orange peel – with ice until well-chilled and strain into a cold cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh strip of orange peel.
*To make maple-nutmeg syrup, combine 8 ounces each of Grade B maple syrup and water, and 1 tbsp freshly-grated nutmeg. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Let cool, strain out solids, bottle and chill.
My problem with homemade tonic water has always been a flavor profile that was too esoteric for the general audience. This recipe takes some of the positive qualities people have come to understand from commercial tonic water and updated them with fresh ingredients.
One question I'm often asked is "Do you have any drink-related book recommendations?" Well, funny you should ask, I've compiled a list of the ten books every professional bartender or home mixologist should own. I keep every one of these close at hand and have read most of them several times. I suggest you do the same.
The problem with living in Oregon is the absence of little wooden shacks by the sea that sell cases of fresh ginger beer stacked on back porches. But with some readily-available ingredients, a recipe I've been revising for several years - and a few free minutes - I can easily transport myself to a little fishing boat on the ocean as I sip a Dark and Stormy made with fresh, house-made ginger beer.
It's always mojito season somewhere, so this advice is timely in your area about half the year. Wether you're making them or simply enjoying them, this advice will help you look like a pro in no time at all.
The flavors of the Richmond Gimlet are imbued with sunshine. Fresh mint mingling with the herbaceousness of gin and the tartness of lime have made this drink a Eugene classic for many years now.
You'll get a lot of snarky advice on this site about how to make a proper drink, but if you ever need to know what not to do, this is the video for you.
Not to be confused with the Spanish wine-and-fruit-based alcoholic beverage sangria, sangrita (meaning "little blood") is a traditional accompaniment to a tequila served completo; a non-alcoholic sipper that cleanses the palate between fiery doses of agave.
The world of booze can be mystifying to people that don't work in bars or around alcohol all the time. I hear a lot of assumptions about the industry I'm in that are - much like 90% of what you hear in bars - completely false. Here are a few you've probably heard yourself.
The debate rages on: Should we try to look cool and crack open the Boston shaker or be tidy professionals and use the Hawthorne strainer the way God intended? Be sure to leave your two cents in the comments section.
The traditional garnish for a Pisco Sour is a couple of drops of bitters in the foam, but I've never been particularly impressed with the way these few paltry drops of bitters sat in their little egg-white mattress and didn't play along with the rest of the drink. I envisioned a Pisco Sour with a uniformly-distributed bitters-scorched foam: slightly crisp as the fire burnt the sugars, and slightly warm as the foam insulated the rest of the frosty cocktail from the heat. A pisco creme brulée in a glass!
I get so many visitors looking for tips on how to write a bartending resume that I thought I should finally post a tutorial on how to write your own. Click the headline to read more.
I always love showing up to a party with a gallon jug of pre-mixed margaritas, so I've decided to share my recipe. This margarita recipe is the perfect blend of strong, sweet, and sour. But be warned: this recipe packs a serious punch.
There isn't much I can say about this video that hasn't been said already. If you've read anything I've written about cocktails, you'll understand why this video symbolizes everything wrong with the state of bartending in America today. Watch and learn, but be warned: this one isn't for the feint of heart.
About Me
My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the head bartender at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.
I've been tending bar since 1996 and writing about it since 2004. Mixing drinks has become something of a passion for me in recent years, and I strive to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.
The writing I do here is intended as a work in progress. My recipes are like my opinions: they are constantly being revised and refined as I work them through my mind and my fingers. Comments and participation are encouraged, so please don't feel the need to tread lightly here.
This subject has been covered many timesbefore, but after numerous requests and some positive encouragement from a good friend this weekend I have decided to post my version of homemade tonic water.
The base for this recipe came from my friend Kevin Ludwig, who pioneered craft tonic water in Portland. His recipe can be found on page 76 of the March/April 2007 issue of Imbibe Magazine. This version is all mine.
My problem with homemade tonic water has always been a flavor profile that was too esoteric for the general audience. This recipe takes some of the positive qualities people have come to understand from commercial tonic water and updated them with fresh ingredients.
4 cups water
1 cup chopped lemongrass (roughly one large stalk)
¼ cup powdered cinchona bark
zest and juice of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tsp whole allspice berries
¼ cup citric acid
¼ tsp Kosher salt
Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once mixture starts to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Cinchona Bark
Try a few different suppliers for powdered cinchona bark to see which you like best. Tenzing Momo has great products as a rule, but their cinchona can often be floral, which may or may not work for you. You can also find cinchona from bulk herbal medicine retailers and other specialty herb shops. I find the yellow variety to be milder than the red, so adding too many other flavors to the mix can overpower the quinine. Adjust your recipes accordingly.
Remove from heat and strain out solids using a strainer or chinois. You’ll need to fine-strain the mixture, as it still contains quite a bit of the cinchona bark. You can use a coffee filter and wait for an hour or more, or do as I do and run the whole mixture through a French coffee press.
Once you’re satisfied with the clarity of your mix, heat it back up on the stovetop or microwave, and then add ¾ cup of agave syrup to each cup of your hot mix. Stir until combined, and store in the attractive bottle of your choice.
You now have a syrup that you can carbonate with seltzer water; I use my iSi soda siphon for some nicely-textured bubbles. To assemble a gin and tonic, use ¾ ounce of syrup, 1½ ounces of gin and 2 ounces of soda water over ice.
Once you’ve mastered your own tonic recipe, you can begin to experiment with different spices and fruit flavors to pair with specific gins. For instance, I’ve found that beefing up the orange peel results in a tonic that pairs nicely with Hendrick’s, but try playing off the coriander or cardamom in other gins and see what happens.
Comments
137 Responses to “How to Make Your Own Tonic Water”
I haven’t kept any around long enough to tell, but if you slipped a healthy splash of vodka into each bottle as a preservative, it should last a good long while.
Note that this will preclude using your syrup as a non-alcoholic beverage, though.
By your recommendations, I think I might play with the quantities of sour citrus/lemongrass and pair with another citrus-forward Gin like 209 perhaps…any suggestions in this department?
Chris, I think with a big, muscle-y, citrusy gin like No. 209 you could cut down on the fruit in the tonic water and beef up a little spice. Try an additional half cup of lemongrass, drop the orange, swap the lemon out for a second lime, and throw a star anise in there. See what happens!
Eugenia, hope to see you soon.
David, thank you. Lemoncello is coming, I promise.
Scott, drop a line here in the comments section and let us know how it turns out!
Jeff
29 May 2008 at 8:20 am 11. mary
i am looking for some suggestions…i like sweet drinks but im tired of the same old stuff…i drink white Russians…could you rec amend some other sweet drinks? thanks
This all looks wonderful, Jeffrey, but it would be much more simple if you just made the syrups and gave them to me. I’m sure I could never create it as perfectly as you do.
Jeff, you’d be surprised at just how well you can make this on your own. It’s honestly that simple.
29 May 2008 at 10:18 am 15. Mark Chu-Carroll
In the recipe, you specify 1/4 cup of the powdered cinchona bark, but all of the vendors that I can find sell it by the ounce. About how much do I need for a batch of syrup?
29 May 2008 at 10:29 am 16. Rob Combs
Howdy-Ho, Jeffanator
I appreciate you tuning me on to making my own tonic. Fun stuff. I’m on my seventh batch of tonic water & I think I’m getting closer. Some interesting spices that I think work well are:
- Grains of Paradice,
- Green Cardamon,
- Corriander
I pulsed the spices in a spice grinder a few times to extract more flavor out of the seeds.
So you should add ‘mind reader’ to your list of qualifications. For the No. 209 pairing, those tweaks were almost exactly what I was thinking (though I’ll admit star anise didn’t spring to mind).
Salt? Does that work? I’m thinking of the old trick of adding salt to tonic and it tasting sweeter, because it diverts your attention from the bitterness… Personally I want that bitterness in my tonic. Agave syrup sounds cool too…
29 May 2008 at 8:43 pm 23. Chris W
Thanks for this recipe Jeff. I’ve recently bought a juicer to make ginger beer, and now I guess I’ll need to get a soda siphon to make my own tonic. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while but hadn’t found a good recipe until now.
Two questions, though. First, is agave syrup readily available? I’m not familiar with that ingredient. Second, in the G&T recipe, is it 3/4 oz of carbonated syrup and then 2oz of regular soda water, or 3/4 oz of the non-carbonated syrup and then 2oz of the carbonated version. Sorry, I’m confused about which is which.
Thanks again, can’t wait to try this!
29 May 2008 at 9:23 pm 24. ConnorH
Is cinchona the source of quinine? I find that diet tonic–which does contain a bit of quinine–keeps my legs from cramping at night. Nothing else works. Quinine is on the “prescription drug” list and it apparently has a myriad of nasty sice effects. But diet tonic works for me–homeopathic, I guess.
30 May 2008 at 1:13 am 25. Scott
Chris,
I’ve been able to find agave syrup a couple places, including BevMo! and Whole Foods Market. I’m sure you could find it at a more upscale supermarket in your area.
Tristan – Nice recipe you’ve got there yourself! I, of course, don’t have a problem with the shelf-life of a syrup containing fruit juice, but I’m making twenty gins-and-tonics a night.
The salt may mute the bitterness a tad, but it helps bring out all of the other flavors. It’s still nice and bitter.
Chris W – That’s ¾ oz of syrup to 2 oz of carbonated water. You should find agave to pretty common, they’ve even got it in the bulk section of my neighborhood grocery store.
Honey is going to bring a lot of flavor to the party, but you could definitely give it a shot. I don’t know how much you’d use, but I would start with ½ cup in place of the ¾ cup of agave syrup.
Ok, so Citrus Tonic #1 is complete, by the following recipe:
4 Cups: Water
1 1/4 Cups: Lemongrass, julienned
Zest & juice of 2 Limes
1/2 whole Star Anise
1/4 Cup: powdered cinchona bark
1/4 Cup: Citric Acid
1/2 Tsp: whole allspice berries
1/4 Tsp: whole Cardamom pods, bruised
1/4 Tsp: Kosher Salt
————
As a stand-alone Tonic water, not so awesome – a little too heavy on the bitter/sour side of the spectrum. It gets a little more manageable with an extra splash of seltzer.
When I made a G&T with the last of my Distillery 209 Gin (& the extra spalsh of seltzer) however, it came out wonderfully! Didn’t need to add a squeeze of Lime to the drink & the anise and Cardamom came through on the finish alongside the various botanicals of the gin.
All in all, pretty excellent – though I’m going to fiddle with some of the proportions – maybe a touch less lime, sub back in some lemon.
It’s funny – I’ve been looking for Aviation for a little while now but to no avail (who distributes that outside of Oregon, more specifically to the greater NJ/NY area?).
I’m sadly also at a loss for more #209 – probably should’ve scaled the Tonic recipe down a bit as I’ve now got a big bottle of tonic, but no more 209 left to mix it with.
On the creamy v. bitter/sour note – the tonic mixes passably well with Plymouth – the ‘velvety’ character of it does kind of what your saying. Sadly, the flavor of it gets a little bit overpowered – not bad, but not quite what the 209 mix was. I’m wondering how a Genever would fare here – I’ll check that out next.
I don’t know about their distributorship, but you might check their website.
I can see Plymouth going well with your recipe. I’ve got a bottle Genever here at home, so I might have to bring it to work tomorrow night to test it with my own.
On a side-note, the folks that produce Aviation tell me that they intended for it to be a Genever-style gin, so you might be on to something with your experiments. Let us know how you fare!
We tried the tonic recipe–so refreshing on a hot day! But a weird thing: If we put the soda on the syrup it foams up like crazy, but syrup into soda was no problem.
I should have mentioned this in the original post, because you’re right, the mixture will foam up if you blast carbonated water directly into the syrup.
An old bartender’s trick is this: squirt the soda water into your cocktail shaker (or any other vessel) and then slowly pour the carbonated water into the glass containing the syrup. Voila, no more foam.
This trick is essential when making drinks like the Ramos Fizz, when squirting soda water directly into the glass would result in egg foam all over yourself and the bar (and undoubtedly your customers)
Thanks for writing.
13 Jun 2008 at 9:14 am 36. ingi
Where can I find cinchona bark? Is there a website where one can buy online?
Thank
15 Jun 2008 at 5:37 pm 37. Kevin
Great recipe… I haven’t tried this yet, but do you think running the cooled down base through a Brita water filter would kill the taste?
Kevin
15 Jun 2008 at 5:54 pm 38. Kevin
And for Ingi… this is where I and a few others I know have purchased cinchona…
I don’t know, but as much of the point of a Brita is to filter out impurities, I can see it removing much of the flavor. Only one way to find out, though.
And thanks for the link, it’s good to have more options and that price looks quite reasonable.
28 Jul 2008 at 6:22 pm 40. Andrew
I’m a bit confused as to how you’re carbonating the tonic. Do you add water and syrup to a soda siphon, or do you keep the syrup in a separate bottle and simply add soda from the gun?
Seriously, though, you could do both. I keep my soda and syrup separate for this one, but that’s just my personal preference. There’s no reason why you couldn’t fill your iSi soda siphon with the right proportions and go.
29 Jul 2008 at 1:55 pm 42. Andrew
Jeffery,
Batch one following your recipe turned out pretty darn good. Nice call on the French press, all other stories of homemade tonic I’ve encountered involve hours of slow straining.
Batch two is on the stove now and aimed towards the cucumber notes of 12 Bridges gin. I cut back on the citrus and allspice, bumped up the lemongrass and added dried lavender.
I’ll let y’all know how it turns out after my shift tonight. With a little luck, I can convince my managers to start putting house-made tonic on the menu.
Yay, I just finished my first batch based on your recipe. *sip*
The only thing I’m a bit surprised by is the filtering. I expected it would be a hassle, but it’s pretty remarkably how suspended in solution all the bark particles still are even hours and hours later.
I tried the French press, but the liquid is still opaque. I tried coffee filters, which, as you suggest, are mostly useless. Are you seeing different results with the French press, or do you settle for an opaque syrup?
Kolbe – I settle for a slightly opaque syrup. If there are particles still in suspension, I don’t consider it a major cosmetic flaw, and by the time you water it down with gin and soda, the particles become pretty much negligible.
03 Aug 2008 at 10:30 pm 46. Chris Hansen
Jeffrey, thanks for the recipe! It turned out really nicely for me and I’m looking forward to sharing it with my friends. I’m sipping my second G&T, this one with Rogue spruce gin–a nice complement.
I do find that the allspice makes it a little too..yule-tidy for my taste. Is it needed to mellow the bitter of the quinine? Do you have a suggestion for a substitute?
Hey Chris Hansen – You know the rules around here. Don’t like the allspice? Leave it out. Seriously, you could try juniper berries, cardamom, coriander, whatever you like. Just be sure to come back and report your findings here.
10 Aug 2008 at 7:57 pm 48. Tom
I worked up a derivative of this recipe. It turned out tasting almost tea-like, which took a couple G&Ts to get used to, but the added nuance was appreciated. I’m going to throw in some juniper berries next to see how if accents the juniper in my gin. I left out the lemongrass, orange and allspice in my first recipe.
One thing I wasn’t ready for was the lack of sweetener in it. The store bought tonics contain loads more sugar than I realized, so I’m going to make up a batch of the simple syrup to add.
Once you’re satisfied with the clarity of your mix, heat it back up on the stovetop or microwave, and then add ¾ cup of agave syrup to each cup of your hot mix. Stir until combined, and store in the attractive bottle of your choice.
12 Aug 2008 at 1:11 am 50. Tom
I ended up liking leaving it out, as I could easily flavor the sweetness, depending on my mood/food. I just got done making the tonic recipe again, and didn’t go through with the sweetener, preferring to add it as needed.
One thing I don’t understand is if the purpose of the citric acid is to act as a flavoring agent to give the tonic ‘bite’, or if it’s there for it’s preservative qualities.
It’s been a long time since you made it for me, but I just have to reiterate how amazing this tonic water recipe makes a gin and tonic. The drink Jeffrey made me in New Orleans was easily the best G&T I’ve ever had.
Can any of you help me with a good recipe for 12 bridges gin?
We made it just to drink out of a glass and I’ve been asked to make a cocktail. I’m a distiller, not a mixologist!
Rich
13 Aug 2008 at 7:28 am 54. Mark C. Chu-Carroll
So – as someone who has not typically liked G&T in the past, but loves the taste of this tonic, can you recommend a good beginners gin, for up to $50/bottle?
Mark – Try Rich’s (above) 12 Bridges, Aviation, Martin Miller’s, Beefeater, Plymouth, Hendricks, Tanqueray No. 10, or wait it out and see what everyone else has to say!
13 Aug 2008 at 6:24 pm 56. Mark C. Chu-Carroll
Interestingly, I actually have a bottle of Tanqueray #10. I picked it up a few months back for cooking – I had a recipe that called for a gin-based marinade. I didn’t realize when I bought it that the #10 was anything different – just needed a marinade for a steak, and tanqueray was a familiar brand.
I just gave it a try; interesting. Not my favorite – but I can definitely see why it’s so traditional with the tonic. It blends nicely with the bitterness, and really brings out the citrus. But the cardamom that I put in my tonic clashes with it – too much citrus with the spice of the cardamom.
12 Sep 2008 at 5:50 pm 57. Blaise
I Just made this for a dinner party tonight after the hostess bemoaned the fact that all the tonic waters had high fructose corn syrup and she was craving a G&T. I used 1 cup of organic evaporated cane juice instead of the agave, and have just sampled a pre-party G&T. (Tanqueray #10). Oh boy, is it delicious! (Obviously, still sampling…)
thanks jeffrey, the tonic turned out better than expected. i ran it as a special paired with hendricks last night and received nothing but fantastic feedback. also really enjoyed it with the m millers westbourne. good luck with the move to cc.
05 Feb 2009 at 1:11 am 61. Tom
As far as gin is concerned, I really like the flavor of the Cascade Mountain gin. It’s made in Oregon and flavored with wild juniper berries. I prefer it over the gins I’ve had (aviation, beefeater, hendricks, a few others).
About 9 months after my first Bel Ami House G&T, I’m finally making my first batch of tonic. Excited.
30 Mar 2009 at 8:13 am 63. The Concierge
I am planning on making this on Friday after work. I am concerned with preserving it for as long as possible.
Thus, I plan on storing half in freezer. However, doesn’t the citric acid preserve the mixture for about six weeks in the fridge?
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
12 Apr 2009 at 7:52 pm 64. The Concierge
Jeff,
Thanks for posting all of this information. I made the recipe, using a metal strainer, followed by a french press. The french press seemed to remove very little compared to the amount still left in suspension. I was left with a maroon colored liquid prior to adding the agave. What is the color of your liquid before adding the agave? Do I have the right color or is there another way to make it more clear?
Btw, I used cinchona bark from tenzing momo like you used.
Also, coffee filters were pretty much useless to break out the powder left.
@The Concierge
I used a coffee press as well. I usually stop after that, then let it settle overnight. After that, I just decant and pour as I go, and don’t worry about the solids at the bottom.
13 Apr 2009 at 11:47 am 66. The Concierge
Thanks Tom. I have a reddish batch sans agave sitting in my fridge. After it settles, I plan on just pouring off the top and discard the liquid holding most of the powder on the bottom.
Looking more closely at Jeff’s G&T pictured above, it is possible that the reddish color of the tonic liquid prior to the adding of agave is consistent with the recipe since the G&T has lots of clear liquid lightening the color of the drink.
16 Apr 2009 at 3:13 am 67. cordwainer
Boodles gin (if you can find it) is fantastic with this. It’s my favorite; thank you Travis McGee :-)
12 May 2009 at 2:21 pm 68. wgbar
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Has anyone tried sweeting the tonic with Stevia?
Thanks!
16 May 2009 at 9:48 pm 69. JC
I bought all the ingredients and am ready to go – except I don’t have a soda siphon. Is there any way to make this without spending $70 on that?
JC – Get yourself a seventy-nine cent bottle of club soda and add two ounces of the stuff to three quarters of an ounce of syrup and two ounces of gin. Squeeze some lime on top, with ice, of course, and you should be fine.
18 May 2009 at 10:06 pm 71. Joe
After much searching I found a place that sells cinchona and is not out of stock. They disclaim, however, that this product is for research or collecting purposes only and is not for human consumption (I do not actually collect powdered bark, and if I did it would be cinnamon). They appear to have these disclaimers on things that are(or are similar to) prescription or restricted drugs. But I’m not entirely secure about the stuff now.
29 May 2009 at 10:01 pm 72. Joe
So, it turns out that the aforementioned disclaimer is solely due to the cinchona itself and not any adulterants or whatnot, so we’re go. I’ve got a batch cooking now with some juniper, cardamom and lavender in addition to the listed ingredients.
03 Jun 2009 at 1:18 pm 73. Sam Tannahill
Jeffery,
Any place to get cinchona in Portland???
Thanks!
Sam
03 Jun 2009 at 6:16 pm 74. caver01
Well, after a year, I finally made this. I was never a fan of gin and tonic, but I have to say, this has changed my mind. One stalk of lemongrass (in MN) was only enough for a half recipe. I filtered ten times through paper towels before using a coffee filter with good results. Now, I love a gin and tonic using Tanqueray Rangpur. Wonderful and refreshing! Thanks, Jeff!
04 Jun 2009 at 8:12 am 75. Snowpea
I am planning on making this; I finally got my bark powder and just need to fetch some lemongrass and find me some time.
My question: I wonder if anybody’s tried using their espresso machine to extract the quinine, or would that just gum up the works in my machine…?
13 Jun 2009 at 9:30 am 76. Snowpea
I was too nervous to try my espresso machine, so I divvied up the powder into two coffee filters, which I twisted up and tied with kitchen string.
Still lots of filtering to do (one tore a bit so I had to transfer the mud to another filter packet), but it’s coming along nicely. Next time, I will try to located make-your-own tea bags.
13 Jun 2009 at 9:31 am 77. Snowpea
(arg, make that “locate”, please)
13 Jun 2009 at 2:03 pm 78. Snowpea
Well, Houston, we have touch-down.
I just served my significant other and me a couple of G&Ts using Jeffrey’s recipe (sans citric acid).
We’ve been using the spottily available Q Tonic (not great market penetration in Canada yet), but this is another animal altogether! Wow. Just… WOW
We love it.
23 Jun 2009 at 1:39 pm 79. Herr Grau
Howdy,
I just made my first batch..
Needed a lot more agave syrup (a little more than a cup) to balance it out at least a little.
The allspice berrys smell like christmas, why are they in the recipe? I feel like it destroyed the whole fresh tonic water citrus odeur. Otherwise a realy nice recipe, thanks!
I’ve made about 6 batches of this so far, and I haven’t used exactly the same ingredients twice. I’m loving playing with it.
Most most interesting variation was adding pomegranate molasses instead of lemon juice. One of my lemons was unexpectedly rotten on the inside, so I went hunting for something else with a pleasant sour flavor. I saw the pomegranate molasses, and threw in a good-sized dollop, to approximate the amount of sourness from the lemon.
The result was interesting. Personally, I tend to prefer bourbon and tonic to gin and tonic; with bourbon, the pomegranate flavor really didn’t work. But with Tanq#10, it’s terrific.
07 Jul 2009 at 11:00 am 81. Jay
Jeffery,
Can you use quinine bark tea? Zooscape sells this and it seems like you could avoid the straining issues by using it.
08 Jul 2009 at 10:05 am 82. Babs
Not wanting to poison myself with quinine, does anyone know how much is released from 1/4 cup of bark and how many ppm is in the finished drink?
08 Jul 2009 at 12:18 pm 83. Richard
I’ve heard citric acid is a form of MSG, what can I substitute in its place?
08 Jul 2009 at 2:19 pm 84. Jay
Babs,
That was another reason I was considering using the tea instead of powder. It seems that with all the powder that is left, the amount of quinine would be high.
08 Jul 2009 at 6:42 pm 85. Daniel F.
Hey Jeffrey!
I made two batches recently…the first was awful – epic mistake.
The second came out alright, except that it’s excessively bitter. I think some commercial tonic waters are fairly gentle in terms of bitterness, but this one I could hardly choke down more than an ounce or so.
Is there anything I might have done wrong in the preperation process? Boiled it too long?
The citrusy tones are really good (I added some coriander) but the bitterness is intense. And there is a distinct bile-y note to it.
Any ideas?
08 Jul 2009 at 8:05 pm 86. Mike in Sacto
Made mine up with the addition of several cardamom pods and the zest and juice of 1/2 of a grapefruit. I filtered through a French press and then through a paper towel layered over a coffee filter. Color is beautiful. It came out quite strong – I am using 1/2 of an oz of the tonic with 2 oz of gin and 2+ of soda water to get a good balance. Very nice in those proportions. I think I overdid the cardamom, though. I’d probably use no more than 2 pods in future batches.
Thanks for this!!!!
09 Jul 2009 at 10:58 am 87. Babs
Richard,
True. Try substituting with a little organic cider vinegar for the citric acid.
It’s healthier anyway. ;)
09 Jul 2009 at 12:40 pm 88. Joe
Richard, whoever told you citric acid is a form of MSG is either woefully misinformed or is messing with you. MSG is monosodium glutamate, a salt of a naturally-occurring amino acid (MSG itself is produced in weird industrial processes and is basically to natural glutamate as high-fructose corn syrup is to fruit juice). It has a flavor termed umami, found in the taste of soy sauce, marmite, Parmesan and other cheeses, meat and meat broth, tomatoes, etc.
Citric acid, on the other hand, has a sour flavor (it’s also called “sour salt”). It’s basically the taste of citrus fruits, except without the sweetness or the different molecules that make, eg, limes taste different from oranges.
Anyway, you certainly wouldn’t want MSG or free glutamate in most cocktails (the Bloody Mary and the Caesar excepted), but citric acid is good. Malic acid is also okay. I tried making this recipe without citric acid, and it was really missing a big part of the flavor profile. You’d have to use a *lot* more citrus in the recipe if you omit it.
09 Jul 2009 at 1:27 pm 89. Babs
Jay,
I’m waiting on my quinine order. I’m planning to use basic herb tea ratios, 1 tsp to 1 cup water, so a TL of 4 tsp for this recipe. Of course this will probably throw everything else off and need more readjustment.
I think it’s important to remember that tonic water started out as a remedy for malaria, it’s medicinal. Colonials mixed it with gin to make their daily dose of medicine more palatable and it IS possible to overdose.
There are probably other (safer) bitter herbs you could use, a woman making it for herself could probably make it with cramp bark and get an equally similar bitter drink. Dandelion and chamomile are bitter and much safer even in what most people would consider to be high quantity – and they are MILDly bitter. So if cinchon bark is too bitter, I would suggest playing with these substitutes. :)
I will make the quinine version as my family swears by it as a leg cramp remedy, but I will also try a dandelion root version for more casual use. :)
11 Jul 2009 at 6:52 pm 90. Lisa
citric acid is not at all related to MSG.
Acids make things tart, there is citric acid naturally present in lemons, limes and other citrus (see name similarity) fruits.
MSG is Mono Sodium Glutamate, it is a umami or savory taste enhancer. There is nothing wrong with eating it either, it is some amino acids combined. Amino acids are present in food naturally, and yeast or miso paste naturally has the amino acids present, giving a similar flavor effect without it being MSG.
The ONLY similarity to citric acid and MSG is that both can be white crystals. But then again, so are salt and sugar.
Go ahead, use citric acid. I highly recommend it over others, vinegar would ruin the flavor for example. Too much juice may throw off the balance.
Anyone know where you can buy cinchona bark and citric acid in NYC? I’ve been to quite a few shops and haven’t found anyone who stocks the bark.
02 Aug 2009 at 4:22 pm 94. Graeme
Jeffrey,
This idea got me so excited I ordered the ingredients the day I read your article, but my first attempt turned out terribly. Brutally acidic, overwhelmingly lemony, and with hardly any discernable quinine bite. A few potential problems I noticed:
1. My cinchona came as intact bark, rather than powder, though I sent it through a food processor for a good while before using it.
2. The recipe doesn’t specify dried or fresh lemongrass. I’m using dried.
3. The recipe doesn’t specify citric acid salt or citric acid solution. I used 1/4 cup citric acid salt.
Let me know what you think; I am determined to get this right.
Also, is there any way to make the final syrup colorless? That would look extremely polished!
03 Aug 2009 at 2:07 pm 95. caver01
Graeme,
I used fresh stalks of lemongrass. Used citric acid salt (dry form), and I used the powdered cinchona bark. All of the rest to the letter of the recipe, although my stalks of lemongrass were small so I only made a half batch. Results: excellent! Bitter, sour and sweet in a strong but balanced combination. I go about 2/3 ounce of the tonic to 2 ounces of seltzer. 10 times filtered through paper towels and finally through a coffee filter yeilded a light brown. I dunno how to completely eliminate the color, but for me and my guests that try it, the color adds to the experience that this isn’t your typical G&T. I look forward to experimenting with the ingredients in the next batch.
Has anyone tried using barley malt extract or honey as the sweetener? I am curious about how that might work.
I just made it, photographed the process, and posted it to Instructables. Thanks for the recipe and guidance, I am so jazzed about this.
09 Aug 2009 at 6:56 pm 97. Ronnie
I hope this question isn’t incredibly inappropriate but I find that no one else has asked!
I drink vodka tonics but I heard from someone that tried this recipe that it’s a bit heavy for VTs. Jeff, do you have any recommendations knowing this? I hope I don’t get dagger stares, I’m just not a huge gin fan!
Thanks so much in advance.
22 Aug 2009 at 2:58 pm 98. Bernhard
Very nice recipe!
Just tried it with some strong juniper genever.
Due to lack of agave syrup I used honey, which gives it a nice additional round up…and I measured free hand..as european we would appreciate if you do not stick on your unprecise cups but go for ISO measures like gram or ml.. ;-)
22 Aug 2009 at 3:01 pm 99. Bernhard
PS: concerning storing; how about using Vitamin C instead of citric acid and adding it after the boiled liquid has cooled down. This should 1. be healthier because of the temperature sensible Vit C and 2. also help as preservative.
31 Aug 2009 at 5:31 pm 100. Karl S.
This is marvelous information. I’m ready to do some experimentation on my own as soon as I can find a source for the bark (I’m thinking there’s a local spice merchant/brewer who will carry it).
I’m wondering, though. You’ve discussed making the tonic with the syrup and water from a syphon, or with club soda.
I’m wondering if there’s a third choice. What would it be like if you brewed the tonic, like your ginger beer? Would you need to boost the sugar content to feed the yeasts? Would it come out tasting too “beery”?
So I went backpacking a couple weeks ago and bought myself a bottle of Aquavit (by local distillery House Spirits) as the elixor of choice for my flask.
Fast forward to today, during a conversation about what tonic water is the best with Tanqueray 10. Of course, I am not nearly so picky… By my mother & her best friend have this borderline obsession with 10 and you’ll just have to trust me that they are really quite snobby about it.
Anyhow, I am reading the Wikipedia entry for tonic water, and I see that somehow you can get a more traditional-style tonic, which is less sweet and more bitter. I’ve taken to ordering gin gimlets for this very reason… Because I prefer a tart/bitter drink to a sweet one.
So I do a Google search in my attempt to see if I can find a brand of tonic water that will be more of a thorwback to olden days, and this blog entry comes up.
I click on it, and what is on the sidebar? The “Norwegian Wood” entry.
Which brings me back to the Aquavit, and how strange the whole thing is… Because the backpacking trip is over and I was wondering what, if anything, I could mix it with, or if I would resign myself to drinking it straight.
So then I read the entry and thought to myself how much I would desperately like to try that drink… Only to realize, d’uh, I live in Portland and maybe I can actually go to Clyde Common and beg you to make it for me (since I don’t have any of those other ingredients and know that I am probably not motivated enough to go get them).
Karl – You can indeed bottle-ferment the tonic water, but I would recommend bumping up the sugar content a notch to feed the yeast. I don’t know how much to recommend, but play with it and report your findings back here if you would.
Jessica – We’ll be expecting you for either a housemade tonic, a Norwegian Wood, or both sometime in the near future.
I’m also curious about using Stevia for the sweetener. It has a bitter undertone that I don’t like for most things, but that might work great in tonic.
03 Sep 2009 at 4:14 am 104. Bernhard
Hi Imho, it should not be fermented, it won’t be tonic anymore..but an alcoholic beverage. The fermentation would also add different flavours.
It can off course be a nice drink..more a tonic beer ;-)
08 Sep 2009 at 5:36 pm 105. Franziska
I need sugar-free tonic to help keep lower the glycemic index of G&Ts. 45 different flavors of sugar-free syrup are available at http://www.davinci.com, but none are agave-flavored, (and some would be completely disgusting in this recipe. Suggestions?
15 Sep 2009 at 4:26 pm 106. Bryant
I love it, Jeffrey. I made my first batch as a gift (along with a lime tree and a bottle of Atlantic) and I immediately made another one for myself, with a few alterations: added juniper berries, crushed cardamom, and caraway seed. I’m not sure that I taste the juniper or cardamom, but the caraway shines. I also substituted a little brown sugar for some of the agave. It’s just wonderful. AND BONUS…I’ll be malaria-free!
Thanks.
18 Sep 2009 at 4:59 am 107. David
Uh, so here is what I did:
1l water
1 cup chopped lemongrass
34g cinchona bark
zest and juice of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp whole allspice berries
5g citric acid
little bit salt
500g acacia honey
What I changed and why:
4 cups are roughly one liter, so I went with that for the water.
I did not powder the chichona bark because I am too impatient to filter that stuff out and I was too lazy to powder those cinnamon like sticks (and because I did not have any tools around). I broke it into smaller pieces.
Then I put one tablespoon of allspice into the pan because I somehow misread that. I was really confused about the citric acid. I know the liquid one and I got cristalline form at home. After I mixed it in there, I read, that this would give me 80ml Of lemon Juice if mixed with 80ml water. bummer :D (or not?).
Uh, kosher salt? After I read that this would be salt without any additives.\ I put in some I found in the kitchen I was working in. Had Iodine in it. :(
And then I ran out of luck because I have browsed the syrup shelves in Germany enough times to know that there won’t be any agave syrup around. So I picked the solution with honey. I picked acacia honey, because you can get it everywhere (at least where I’m at) and it is a very mild one, nearly tasteless but sweet. I chose to follow your recommendation and mixed one third (in volume) honey with two thirds “tonic”.
Now I am looking at roughly 1,2 liters of tasty tonic syrup.
It is sweet and just a little bitter. That is because I did not powder the bark, I guess. And because I just took the last bottle, in which there is a little more honey than in the others. I like it. I hope the others will be less sweet. Otherwise I will post again, when I do it over with less honey. And better prepared.
Thank you Jeffrey.
05 Oct 2009 at 8:11 pm 108. jean-michel
you are so AWESOME for posting this. this is gonna rock the halloween party ! But i was wondering, where is the quinine in there ?
06 Oct 2009 at 12:40 pm 109. Hunter
Jeff,
I’m about ready to give this a go, but I had just a couple questions. First off, I could only come up with dried lemongrass; should I alter the quantity I use? And secondly, is that 1/4 cup of citric acid in a powdered or liquid form? I have the former…if you used liquid, would you happen to know the solid equivalence?
I’m really excited about this project…thanks for posting the recipe!
“I can’t speak as to any medical benefits. I’m not a doctor.”
…cracked me up, and furthermore reminded me of a great line from a Texas Meat Purveyors song:
“I know you ain’t no doctor, but could you pour a dose about yea tall?”
Anyway, more to the point, I see several people here discussing the safety of this stuff, and I have to say I find it extremely unlikely that there’s any danger. According to the oracle the real, medicinal tonic was between 200-400 times stronger than what they FDA will let you sell as tonic water today. Sure, I’m betting (hoping, really) that this recipe has more than 83ppm quinine, but I still strongly doubt it has more than, say, one order of magnitude more. In which case we’d still be talking about pounding 20-40 G&T’s to get just one medicinal tonic dose. At that point, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the toxicity of the gin should probably be your primary concern.
06 Oct 2009 at 1:40 pm 112. Hunter
Ok, one more and I swear I’ll stop bombing the comments…
Has anyone tried this with pure Kosher grade quinine? You can get it from Sigma-Aldrich. It would probably make a clearer (possibly less complex) drink, which may be preferable to some (not sure about myself, I’d have to try). I’ve looked and everyone seems to use the bark. Is there a reason for this?
08 Oct 2009 at 2:11 pm 114. Hunter
Success!
I went ahead and made a batch, using 1/3 cup of dried lemongrass and no allspice. Unbelievable. It was like I had never had a gin and tonic before. Jeffrey, thanks so much for posting this; you’ve improved my life.
@Cisco: I think the reason nobody’s using quinine sulfate is because it’s regulated as a drug and it’s frighteningly expensive. The site you mentioned wants $160…although it doesn’t say how much you get for that price. If there was a cheap source for the stuff I might give it a go. But really, I kind of like using the bark. It’s like a “proto-tonic” or something; the Raj already had isolated quinine sulfate when they invented the G&T, so we’re going back to construct one like it “would have been” hundreds of years before it was invented. Wrap your brain around that! Oh, and also I think the look is super cool as well…definitely drives home the uniqueness of what we’re doing.
I ordered dried lemongrass and yellow chichona bark. They called and the bark is now only available in 10 lb. lots. I had to then order from herbaladvantage.
Recipe:
4 c. water
1/3 c. dried lemongrass
1/4 c. cinchona bark
zest & juice of 1 orange
zest & juice of 1 lemon
zest & juice of 1 lime
5 allspice berries
1/4 c. citric acid
1/4 t. kosher salt
Combine and boil slowly 20 min. Strain through a sieve and a French Press. To 1 cup of cooled mix add 3/4 c. water and 9 Tablespoons of Xylitol. Stir to dissolve. Mix as recipe advises:
3/4 oz. of mix
1 1/2 oz. gin
2 oz. canned seltzer water
It’s good-oh yeah!!
14 Nov 2009 at 7:15 pm 118. Rebecca Linden
Hey I just got a sodastream carbonater to replace my old ISI(which I love, by the way). The only problem, is although they have a large selection of soda flavorings, they all have splenda in them – even the non-diets, a taste I fond unpleasant. I’m glad to find a tonic recipe, but is there anyone making a (splenda-free) tonic syrup out there for purchase?
Hi Jeff,
I have been unable to find citric acid in the store. I did find true lemon which has citric acid as it’s top ingredient. I am just not sure how much to use.
It says that one package equals 1 teaspoon of lemon. I am thinking that I will need like 30 packages?
Any ideas?
31 Dec 2009 at 5:28 pm 120. Nuriah
I just tried this recipe using Peruvian Bark Powder ordered from the Herbal Advantage website. The resulting concentrate (without adding agave or any sweetener) is a deep opaque crimson after straining twice through a gold-plate coffee filter and cotton cloth. I did also leave out the citrus juices, trying to keep it as low carb/low calorie as possible.
I made a gin & tonic with your recipe plus 1 packet Sun Crystals. It was perfect, with a clear salmony-orangey hue. Just tried a vodka tonic with Rain organic vodka (a great smooth vodka)–also perfect. Thanks for a great recipe. :)
31 Dec 2009 at 5:30 pm 121. Nuriah
Oh and I couldn’t get a screw-top CO2 charger for the soda siphon I got at a local antique shop, so I just used the Pellegrino knock-off from Whole Foods (their Italian soda water). Great!
06 Jan 2010 at 6:00 pm 122. Matt
FYI: the link above to Tenzing Momo is to c/s not the powder. I just got my 1lb of Cinchona C/S whatever that is. It looks like it’s chopped into larger pieces. Is it useable? Or should I try to return it?
Thanks,
Matt
16 Jan 2010 at 5:43 pm 123. Matt
I’ll follow up my own post for anyone who cares. I called Tenzing Momo, and they said it was the same stuff if I ground it up. I put it in my spice grinder (old coffee grinder) and gave it a whirl.
Currently waiting for it to cool down and trying to strain. I think that’s going to be the hard part.
23 Jan 2010 at 4:11 pm 124. Kevin
I made my batch using tensing momo’s powdered cinchona. I’ve strained and strained and no change to the clarity of the liquid. At this point, I’m just going to give it a try and hope that I don’t have to much quinine in it. Next time I try this, I’m going to use whole bark, slightly ground, rather than the powder (which was way too finely ground).
25 Jan 2010 at 3:22 pm 125. Eric
Made a batch last night and it’s fantastic! It’s excellent the way it is, but I think I’d like to play with some of the flavors because, well, I’m a tinkerer. Just like to play with the possibilioties.
The agave syrup is critical here. Great call on that. It lends a softer sweetness than simple syrup would.
Nuriah– If you’re leaving out the fruit juice for calorie concerns, your giving up a lot of flavor for almost no caloric advantage. One each of a lemon, lime, and orange adds a total of about 100 calories to a mix that makes a minimum of 40 drinks. That’s 2.5 calories/drink. There’s no way the flavor trade-off is worth 2.5 calories.
By the way, in Seattle, cinchona can be purchased really cheaply at Dandelion in Ballard. The guy who sold it to me knew exactly what I wanted it for and had made tonic water himself, so we had a nice chat about it. Really good guy. Also picked up the citric acid and allspice there. Got enough of everything for four batches for about $12.
When googling myself (who doesn’t do that from time to time?) I have -not surprisingly- stumbled over you, good sir, a few times. That tonic sounds incredible. I’m not really a drinks expert, but I’ll be checking some of these recipes out for sure. Keep up the good work!
All the best,
Jeppe Morgenthaler
Copenhagen, Denmark
31 Jan 2010 at 12:28 pm 127. Barry
Found this site this weekend and ordered supplies. Really getting excited about this project!! Thanks everyone.
31 Jan 2010 at 5:42 pm 128. Kevin from Comment #124
Mine turned out really good (despite the straining issues). Makes me want to experiment with some new flavors. Alas, I am out of gin.
31 Jan 2010 at 6:52 pm 129. Matt
I was able to put my cinchona into a spice grinder (old coffee grinder). The end result was delicious. I’m also excited to try another batch, so I’m giving away small bottles to people who like it.
I’m thinking grapefruit for sure, replace the allspice with something else…suggestions?
Thanks for the recipe.
oh, and I wouldn’t attempt this without a french press strainer.
M
02 Feb 2010 at 3:19 pm 130. Barry
Where are you getting the cinchona? I ordered from Rain Tree and they cancelled the order the following day since they were out.
13 Feb 2010 at 10:03 pm 131. Mysterious Stranger
I got my cinchona from Tenzing Momo. I followed the link Jeffrey provided to their “c/s” version, which seems to be more shredded than finely ground. Worked great for me.
I’m curious, has anybody come up with a Bitter Lemon recipe based on this tonic recipe?
14 Feb 2010 at 12:10 pm 132. Ken
I’ve been at this for about a year now since finding this. I love the recipe, although I tweak it here and their.
One thing I do is cold brew the cinchona with just the citric acid in six quarts of water (I do double batches). I leave it at room temp and shake occasionally for a day or so. I then put it in the fridge overnight and the bark settles to the bottom. I then take a liter water bottle with the bottom cut out. I unwrap three cotton balls and stuff a thick portion of this into the neck via the bottom (I use a sharpening steel). I then insert the neck into that of a larger bottle, after which I decant a portion of the brew through the filter apparatus. Be careful not to disturb the sediment. After most is passed through, I can finish off that last little bit. The cold brewing is more selective. You get all the quinine, but less of the bark taste. You still get a deep red hue and great clarity.
I brew the other ingredients in the remaining two cups of water on the stove and run that through a gold coffee filter. For pristine clarity, run it all through the cotton again. It will go quite fast this time.
21 Feb 2010 at 12:15 pm 133. Rob
Hi
Along with many of you people I find commercial tonic water far too sweet and have been enthused by the contributors to this site. My problem is that I cant find cinchona powder in the UK. I have found a source for a it in liquid form (a tincture). Does anyone know if this can be used as a substitute and if so what the comparison on quantity used is with powder?
Thanks
Rob
22 Feb 2010 at 10:09 am 134. Ken
Rob
Tinctures are alcohol based infusions which usually come in small bottles. In theory it might work, but I imagine it would take quite a few bottles of tincture and would be very expensive. The result would probably be clear, rather than reddish brown.
24 Feb 2010 at 10:41 am 135. Rob
Thanks very much for this Ken.
It sounds as tincture isnt very practical so I have been in touch with my sister who lives in California. She has found a source of cinchona in ”chopped” form. Im not sure how finely it is chhopped, but if anyone could provide any advice on whether this would do the trick for tonic, I would be very grateful.
Rob
24 Feb 2010 at 3:21 pm 136. Ken
Rob
Chopped, I think, will work fine. What is going on here is an acidic extraction. Quinine is an alkaloid, which is an alkaline compound derived from a plant. This reacts with an acid, in our case citric acid. A salt is formed, quinine citrate, which dissolves easily in water. If you use the cold brew method, which I really like, you might give it an extra day to pull out the quinine. Alternatively, you could grind the bark down finer with a blade type coffee grinder to speed things along.
I should mention that when I brew, I don’t add any sweetener until I’m done. I add agave or organic sugar simple syrup along with the tonic concentrate to the water prior to carbonation.
An interesting note is that the form of quinine in the tonic water depends on what acid is used in the process of making it. Most commercial tonic water contains quinine hydrochloride, which indicates it was made with hydrochloric acid. Here, we’re using citric acid, which results in quinine citrate.
Good luck, and thanks Jeff for the best homemade tonic page around!
03 Mar 2010 at 1:03 pm 137. Rob
Thanks very much Ken – you guys are brilliant! I have a consignment of cinchona on its way from California and I cant wait to get going on it. I’ll let you know how I get on.
I absolutely hate it when someone sends me a box full of sex toys in the mail. Sure, it might sound like fun to some of you (you know who you are), but receiving a big box of free sex is much more trouble than it’s worth. Believe me. So I get a [...]
Try a few different suppliers for powdered cinchona bark to see which you like best. Tenzing Momo has great products as a rule, but their cinchona can often be floral, which may or may not work for you. You can also find cinchona from bulk herbal medicine retailers and other specialty herb shops. I find the yellow variety to be milder than the red, so adding too many other flavors to the mix can overpower the quinine. Adjust your recipes accordingly.
28 May 2008 at 6:33 am 1. JD
How long does the syrup stay fresh in the fridge?
Looks delicious – I’ll have to try this soon.
28 May 2008 at 7:46 am 2. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
I haven’t kept any around long enough to tell, but if you slipped a healthy splash of vodka into each bottle as a preservative, it should last a good long while.
Note that this will preclude using your syrup as a non-alcoholic beverage, though.
28 May 2008 at 11:32 am 3. Marleigh
So you’re going to bring samples of all your homemade goodies to Tales, right?
28 May 2008 at 11:36 am 4. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
For you, Marleigh, I will definitely bring a little suitcase of vials for you to try. Promise!
28 May 2008 at 5:09 pm 5. Rick
You have convinced me to add a soda siphon to my Amazon wish list (which means I’ll buy it shortly).
I’ll second Marleigh’s request for bring a treasure chest of fun to Tales.
28 May 2008 at 5:44 pm 6. Chris
Bloody fine-looking Tonic indeed!
By your recommendations, I think I might play with the quantities of sour citrus/lemongrass and pair with another citrus-forward Gin like 209 perhaps…any suggestions in this department?
Cheers!
28 May 2008 at 6:29 pm 7. Eugenia
Oh dear, if anything can flush me out of my reclusive bunker, it will be this!
28 May 2008 at 10:00 pm 8. David Hirsch
Hey Jeff,
Fine looking G&T. Best looking one I’ve seen.
You wouldn’t happen to have a lemoncello recipe would you?
David
29 May 2008 at 12:53 am 9. Scott
I just finished making an awesome mojito using your recipe. Now I have to go order some bark and try this one, since a G&T is my favourite drink.
29 May 2008 at 3:55 am 10. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Rick and Marleigh: It’s a done deal.
Chris, I think with a big, muscle-y, citrusy gin like No. 209 you could cut down on the fruit in the tonic water and beef up a little spice. Try an additional half cup of lemongrass, drop the orange, swap the lemon out for a second lime, and throw a star anise in there. See what happens!
Eugenia, hope to see you soon.
David, thank you. Lemoncello is coming, I promise.
Scott, drop a line here in the comments section and let us know how it turns out!
Jeff
29 May 2008 at 8:20 am 11. mary
i am looking for some suggestions…i like sweet drinks but im tired of the same old stuff…i drink white Russians…could you rec amend some other sweet drinks? thanks
29 May 2008 at 9:00 am 12. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Mary, try this and this.
29 May 2008 at 9:48 am 13. Jefffrane
This all looks wonderful, Jeffrey, but it would be much more simple if you just made the syrups and gave them to me. I’m sure I could never create it as perfectly as you do.
29 May 2008 at 9:58 am 14. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Jeff, you’d be surprised at just how well you can make this on your own. It’s honestly that simple.
29 May 2008 at 10:18 am 15. Mark Chu-Carroll
In the recipe, you specify 1/4 cup of the powdered cinchona bark, but all of the vendors that I can find sell it by the ounce. About how much do I need for a batch of syrup?
29 May 2008 at 10:29 am 16. Rob Combs
Howdy-Ho, Jeffanator
I appreciate you tuning me on to making my own tonic. Fun stuff. I’m on my seventh batch of tonic water & I think I’m getting closer. Some interesting spices that I think work well are:
- Grains of Paradice,
- Green Cardamon,
- Corriander
I pulsed the spices in a spice grinder a few times to extract more flavor out of the seeds.
You da man, Jeff.
29 May 2008 at 11:09 am 17. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Mark
Sorry about that. According to my digital scale, ¼ cup of cinchona bark is coming in right at one ounce.
Hope this helps!
29 May 2008 at 11:13 am 18. Bastian
Jeffrey,
if you bring some to New Orleans you might as well carry some to the Berlin Bar Convent…I’d love to sample the stuff;-)
29 May 2008 at 11:15 am 19. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Bastian
I’ll definitely do that!
29 May 2008 at 12:08 pm 20. Chris
So you should add ‘mind reader’ to your list of qualifications. For the No. 209 pairing, those tweaks were almost exactly what I was thinking (though I’ll admit star anise didn’t spring to mind).
I’ll give it a shot & post back with results…
Cheers & Thanks again!
29 May 2008 at 12:44 pm 21. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Chris – I’ll be sure to polish up the old resume. Let us know how it turns out!
29 May 2008 at 2:58 pm 22. Tristan
Nice recipe, mine (http://www.tristanstephenson.com/wordpress/2008/01/03/tonic-water-recipe/) is similar but I don’t use the juice as shortens the lifespan of the syrup a lot. Lemongrass sounds cool though!
Salt? Does that work? I’m thinking of the old trick of adding salt to tonic and it tasting sweeter, because it diverts your attention from the bitterness… Personally I want that bitterness in my tonic. Agave syrup sounds cool too…
29 May 2008 at 8:43 pm 23. Chris W
Thanks for this recipe Jeff. I’ve recently bought a juicer to make ginger beer, and now I guess I’ll need to get a soda siphon to make my own tonic. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while but hadn’t found a good recipe until now.
Two questions, though. First, is agave syrup readily available? I’m not familiar with that ingredient. Second, in the G&T recipe, is it 3/4 oz of carbonated syrup and then 2oz of regular soda water, or 3/4 oz of the non-carbonated syrup and then 2oz of the carbonated version. Sorry, I’m confused about which is which.
Thanks again, can’t wait to try this!
29 May 2008 at 9:23 pm 24. ConnorH
Is cinchona the source of quinine? I find that diet tonic–which does contain a bit of quinine–keeps my legs from cramping at night. Nothing else works. Quinine is on the “prescription drug” list and it apparently has a myriad of nasty sice effects. But diet tonic works for me–homeopathic, I guess.
30 May 2008 at 1:13 am 25. Scott
Chris,
I’ve been able to find agave syrup a couple places, including BevMo! and Whole Foods Market. I’m sure you could find it at a more upscale supermarket in your area.
30 May 2008 at 9:11 am 26. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Tristan – Nice recipe you’ve got there yourself! I, of course, don’t have a problem with the shelf-life of a syrup containing fruit juice, but I’m making twenty gins-and-tonics a night.
The salt may mute the bitterness a tad, but it helps bring out all of the other flavors. It’s still nice and bitter.
Chris W – That’s ¾ oz of syrup to 2 oz of carbonated water. You should find agave to pretty common, they’ve even got it in the bulk section of my neighborhood grocery store.
30 May 2008 at 9:12 am 27. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Oh, ConnorH – Cinchona is the source of the quinine, but I can’t speak as to any medical benefits. I’m not a doctor.
31 May 2008 at 6:05 pm 28. RMS
I’d love to try this with my new favourite gin — Bulldog!
I wonder if honey could be used instead of the agave syrup? Has anyone tried this recipe with honey? Thanks so much for sharing!!!
01 Jun 2008 at 10:41 am 29. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Honey is going to bring a lot of flavor to the party, but you could definitely give it a shot. I don’t know how much you’d use, but I would start with ½ cup in place of the ¾ cup of agave syrup.
Don’t forget to let us know how it turns out!
02 Jun 2008 at 6:31 pm 30. Chris
Ok, so Citrus Tonic #1 is complete, by the following recipe:
4 Cups: Water
1 1/4 Cups: Lemongrass, julienned
Zest & juice of 2 Limes
1/2 whole Star Anise
1/4 Cup: powdered cinchona bark
1/4 Cup: Citric Acid
1/2 Tsp: whole allspice berries
1/4 Tsp: whole Cardamom pods, bruised
1/4 Tsp: Kosher Salt
————
As a stand-alone Tonic water, not so awesome – a little too heavy on the bitter/sour side of the spectrum. It gets a little more manageable with an extra splash of seltzer.
When I made a G&T with the last of my Distillery 209 Gin (& the extra spalsh of seltzer) however, it came out wonderfully! Didn’t need to add a squeeze of Lime to the drink & the anise and Cardamom came through on the finish alongside the various botanicals of the gin.
All in all, pretty excellent – though I’m going to fiddle with some of the proportions – maybe a touch less lime, sub back in some lemon.
Cheers & Thanks again!
02 Jun 2008 at 6:34 pm 31. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Nice work, Chris! I think mine’s probably a little sweeter/fruitier with the orange I used (actually a Tangelo), so that explains it.
Have you tried yours with Aviation gin? I’d think that the creamy sweetness would offset the bitter/sourness in a pleasant way.
I look forward to hearing more!
Jeff
02 Jun 2008 at 8:43 pm 32. Chris
It’s funny – I’ve been looking for Aviation for a little while now but to no avail (who distributes that outside of Oregon, more specifically to the greater NJ/NY area?).
I’m sadly also at a loss for more #209 – probably should’ve scaled the Tonic recipe down a bit as I’ve now got a big bottle of tonic, but no more 209 left to mix it with.
On the creamy v. bitter/sour note – the tonic mixes passably well with Plymouth – the ‘velvety’ character of it does kind of what your saying. Sadly, the flavor of it gets a little bit overpowered – not bad, but not quite what the 209 mix was. I’m wondering how a Genever would fare here – I’ll check that out next.
Cheers!
02 Jun 2008 at 9:19 pm 33. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
I don’t know about their distributorship, but you might check their website.
I can see Plymouth going well with your recipe. I’ve got a bottle Genever here at home, so I might have to bring it to work tomorrow night to test it with my own.
On a side-note, the folks that produce Aviation tell me that they intended for it to be a Genever-style gin, so you might be on to something with your experiments. Let us know how you fare!
07 Jun 2008 at 4:41 pm 34. Deana
We tried the tonic recipe–so refreshing on a hot day! But a weird thing: If we put the soda on the syrup it foams up like crazy, but syrup into soda was no problem.
09 Jun 2008 at 10:00 am 35. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Deana
I should have mentioned this in the original post, because you’re right, the mixture will foam up if you blast carbonated water directly into the syrup.
An old bartender’s trick is this: squirt the soda water into your cocktail shaker (or any other vessel) and then slowly pour the carbonated water into the glass containing the syrup. Voila, no more foam.
This trick is essential when making drinks like the Ramos Fizz, when squirting soda water directly into the glass would result in egg foam all over yourself and the bar (and undoubtedly your customers)
Thanks for writing.
13 Jun 2008 at 9:14 am 36. ingi
Where can I find cinchona bark? Is there a website where one can buy online?
Thank
15 Jun 2008 at 5:37 pm 37. Kevin
Great recipe… I haven’t tried this yet, but do you think running the cooled down base through a Brita water filter would kill the taste?
Kevin
15 Jun 2008 at 5:54 pm 38. Kevin
And for Ingi… this is where I and a few others I know have purchased cinchona…
http://rain-tree.com/products/quinine-powder.htm
15 Jun 2008 at 10:32 pm 39. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Kevin
I don’t know, but as much of the point of a Brita is to filter out impurities, I can see it removing much of the flavor. Only one way to find out, though.
And thanks for the link, it’s good to have more options and that price looks quite reasonable.
28 Jul 2008 at 6:22 pm 40. Andrew
I’m a bit confused as to how you’re carbonating the tonic. Do you add water and syrup to a soda siphon, or do you keep the syrup in a separate bottle and simply add soda from the gun?
Thanks.
29 Jul 2008 at 12:58 am 41. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Andrew
Yes.
Seriously, though, you could do both. I keep my soda and syrup separate for this one, but that’s just my personal preference. There’s no reason why you couldn’t fill your iSi soda siphon with the right proportions and go.
29 Jul 2008 at 1:55 pm 42. Andrew
Jeffery,
Batch one following your recipe turned out pretty darn good. Nice call on the French press, all other stories of homemade tonic I’ve encountered involve hours of slow straining.
Batch two is on the stove now and aimed towards the cucumber notes of 12 Bridges gin. I cut back on the citrus and allspice, bumped up the lemongrass and added dried lavender.
I’ll let y’all know how it turns out after my shift tonight. With a little luck, I can convince my managers to start putting house-made tonic on the menu.
29 Jul 2008 at 2:00 pm 43. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Nice work, Andrew, and good luck!
02 Aug 2008 at 7:35 pm 44. Kolbe
Yay, I just finished my first batch based on your recipe. *sip*
The only thing I’m a bit surprised by is the filtering. I expected it would be a hassle, but it’s pretty remarkably how suspended in solution all the bark particles still are even hours and hours later.
I tried the French press, but the liquid is still opaque. I tried coffee filters, which, as you suggest, are mostly useless. Are you seeing different results with the French press, or do you settle for an opaque syrup?
03 Aug 2008 at 3:20 am 45. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Kolbe – I settle for a slightly opaque syrup. If there are particles still in suspension, I don’t consider it a major cosmetic flaw, and by the time you water it down with gin and soda, the particles become pretty much negligible.
03 Aug 2008 at 10:30 pm 46. Chris Hansen
Jeffrey, thanks for the recipe! It turned out really nicely for me and I’m looking forward to sharing it with my friends. I’m sipping my second G&T, this one with Rogue spruce gin–a nice complement.
I do find that the allspice makes it a little too..yule-tidy for my taste. Is it needed to mellow the bitter of the quinine? Do you have a suggestion for a substitute?
05 Aug 2008 at 12:57 pm 47. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Hey Chris Hansen – You know the rules around here. Don’t like the allspice? Leave it out. Seriously, you could try juniper berries, cardamom, coriander, whatever you like. Just be sure to come back and report your findings here.
10 Aug 2008 at 7:57 pm 48. Tom
I worked up a derivative of this recipe. It turned out tasting almost tea-like, which took a couple G&Ts to get used to, but the added nuance was appreciated. I’m going to throw in some juniper berries next to see how if accents the juniper in my gin. I left out the lemongrass, orange and allspice in my first recipe.
One thing I wasn’t ready for was the lack of sweetener in it. The store bought tonics contain loads more sugar than I realized, so I’m going to make up a batch of the simple syrup to add.
10 Aug 2008 at 8:01 pm 49. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Tom
I think you missed this crucial step:
12 Aug 2008 at 1:11 am 50. Tom
I ended up liking leaving it out, as I could easily flavor the sweetness, depending on my mood/food. I just got done making the tonic recipe again, and didn’t go through with the sweetener, preferring to add it as needed.
One thing I don’t understand is if the purpose of the citric acid is to act as a flavoring agent to give the tonic ‘bite’, or if it’s there for it’s preservative qualities.
12 Aug 2008 at 10:04 am 51. Dood
It’s been a long time since you made it for me, but I just have to reiterate how amazing this tonic water recipe makes a gin and tonic. The drink Jeffrey made me in New Orleans was easily the best G&T I’ve ever had.
12 Aug 2008 at 10:06 am 52. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Aw, Dood, that’s the best way I could have started my morning. Thanks!
And, Tom, the answer is yes.
12 Aug 2008 at 11:59 am 53. rich phillips
Can any of you help me with a good recipe for 12 bridges gin?
We made it just to drink out of a glass and I’ve been asked to make a cocktail. I’m a distiller, not a mixologist!
Rich
13 Aug 2008 at 7:28 am 54. Mark C. Chu-Carroll
So – as someone who has not typically liked G&T in the past, but loves the taste of this tonic, can you recommend a good beginners gin, for up to $50/bottle?
13 Aug 2008 at 11:26 am 55. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Mark – Try Rich’s (above) 12 Bridges, Aviation, Martin Miller’s, Beefeater, Plymouth, Hendricks, Tanqueray No. 10, or wait it out and see what everyone else has to say!
13 Aug 2008 at 6:24 pm 56. Mark C. Chu-Carroll
Interestingly, I actually have a bottle of Tanqueray #10. I picked it up a few months back for cooking – I had a recipe that called for a gin-based marinade. I didn’t realize when I bought it that the #10 was anything different – just needed a marinade for a steak, and tanqueray was a familiar brand.
I just gave it a try; interesting. Not my favorite – but I can definitely see why it’s so traditional with the tonic. It blends nicely with the bitterness, and really brings out the citrus. But the cardamom that I put in my tonic clashes with it – too much citrus with the spice of the cardamom.
12 Sep 2008 at 5:50 pm 57. Blaise
I Just made this for a dinner party tonight after the hostess bemoaned the fact that all the tonic waters had high fructose corn syrup and she was craving a G&T. I used 1 cup of organic evaporated cane juice instead of the agave, and have just sampled a pre-party G&T. (Tanqueray #10). Oh boy, is it delicious! (Obviously, still sampling…)
04 Feb 2009 at 11:51 am 58. mrParker
Jeffrey, do you use agave nectar or a 1:1 syrup when sweetening the mix
04 Feb 2009 at 11:55 am 59. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
mrParker – I use straight agave nectar. A 1:1 syrup would just bring too much additional water to the party.
04 Feb 2009 at 6:30 pm 60. mrParker
thanks jeffrey, the tonic turned out better than expected. i ran it as a special paired with hendricks last night and received nothing but fantastic feedback. also really enjoyed it with the m millers westbourne. good luck with the move to cc.
05 Feb 2009 at 1:11 am 61. Tom
As far as gin is concerned, I really like the flavor of the Cascade Mountain gin. It’s made in Oregon and flavored with wild juniper berries. I prefer it over the gins I’ve had (aviation, beefeater, hendricks, a few others).
28 Mar 2009 at 12:46 am 62. JohnTheBastard
About 9 months after my first Bel Ami House G&T, I’m finally making my first batch of tonic. Excited.
30 Mar 2009 at 8:13 am 63. The Concierge
I am planning on making this on Friday after work. I am concerned with preserving it for as long as possible.
Thus, I plan on storing half in freezer. However, doesn’t the citric acid preserve the mixture for about six weeks in the fridge?
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
12 Apr 2009 at 7:52 pm 64. The Concierge
Jeff,
Thanks for posting all of this information. I made the recipe, using a metal strainer, followed by a french press. The french press seemed to remove very little compared to the amount still left in suspension. I was left with a maroon colored liquid prior to adding the agave. What is the color of your liquid before adding the agave? Do I have the right color or is there another way to make it more clear?
Btw, I used cinchona bark from tenzing momo like you used.
Also, coffee filters were pretty much useless to break out the powder left.
12 Apr 2009 at 11:15 pm 65. Tom
@The Concierge
I used a coffee press as well. I usually stop after that, then let it settle overnight. After that, I just decant and pour as I go, and don’t worry about the solids at the bottom.
13 Apr 2009 at 11:47 am 66. The Concierge
Thanks Tom. I have a reddish batch sans agave sitting in my fridge. After it settles, I plan on just pouring off the top and discard the liquid holding most of the powder on the bottom.
Looking more closely at Jeff’s G&T pictured above, it is possible that the reddish color of the tonic liquid prior to the adding of agave is consistent with the recipe since the G&T has lots of clear liquid lightening the color of the drink.
16 Apr 2009 at 3:13 am 67. cordwainer
Boodles gin (if you can find it) is fantastic with this. It’s my favorite; thank you Travis McGee :-)
12 May 2009 at 2:21 pm 68. wgbar
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Has anyone tried sweeting the tonic with Stevia?
Thanks!
16 May 2009 at 9:48 pm 69. JC
I bought all the ingredients and am ready to go – except I don’t have a soda siphon. Is there any way to make this without spending $70 on that?
17 May 2009 at 1:18 am 70. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
JC – Get yourself a seventy-nine cent bottle of club soda and add two ounces of the stuff to three quarters of an ounce of syrup and two ounces of gin. Squeeze some lime on top, with ice, of course, and you should be fine.
18 May 2009 at 10:06 pm 71. Joe
After much searching I found a place that sells cinchona and is not out of stock. They disclaim, however, that this product is for research or collecting purposes only and is not for human consumption (I do not actually collect powdered bark, and if I did it would be cinnamon). They appear to have these disclaimers on things that are(or are similar to) prescription or restricted drugs. But I’m not entirely secure about the stuff now.
29 May 2009 at 10:01 pm 72. Joe
So, it turns out that the aforementioned disclaimer is solely due to the cinchona itself and not any adulterants or whatnot, so we’re go. I’ve got a batch cooking now with some juniper, cardamom and lavender in addition to the listed ingredients.
03 Jun 2009 at 1:18 pm 73. Sam Tannahill
Jeffery,
Any place to get cinchona in Portland???
Thanks!
Sam
03 Jun 2009 at 6:16 pm 74. caver01
Well, after a year, I finally made this. I was never a fan of gin and tonic, but I have to say, this has changed my mind. One stalk of lemongrass (in MN) was only enough for a half recipe. I filtered ten times through paper towels before using a coffee filter with good results. Now, I love a gin and tonic using Tanqueray Rangpur. Wonderful and refreshing! Thanks, Jeff!
04 Jun 2009 at 8:12 am 75. Snowpea
I am planning on making this; I finally got my bark powder and just need to fetch some lemongrass and find me some time.
My question: I wonder if anybody’s tried using their espresso machine to extract the quinine, or would that just gum up the works in my machine…?
13 Jun 2009 at 9:30 am 76. Snowpea
I was too nervous to try my espresso machine, so I divvied up the powder into two coffee filters, which I twisted up and tied with kitchen string.
Still lots of filtering to do (one tore a bit so I had to transfer the mud to another filter packet), but it’s coming along nicely. Next time, I will try to located make-your-own tea bags.
13 Jun 2009 at 9:31 am 77. Snowpea
(arg, make that “locate”, please)
13 Jun 2009 at 2:03 pm 78. Snowpea
Well, Houston, we have touch-down.
I just served my significant other and me a couple of G&Ts using Jeffrey’s recipe (sans citric acid).
We’ve been using the spottily available Q Tonic (not great market penetration in Canada yet), but this is another animal altogether! Wow. Just… WOW
We love it.
23 Jun 2009 at 1:39 pm 79. Herr Grau
Howdy,
I just made my first batch..
Needed a lot more agave syrup (a little more than a cup) to balance it out at least a little.
The allspice berrys smell like christmas, why are they in the recipe? I feel like it destroyed the whole fresh tonic water citrus odeur. Otherwise a realy nice recipe, thanks!
Herr Grau
23 Jun 2009 at 2:17 pm 80. Mark C. Chu-Carroll
If you don’t like the allspice, take it out!
I’ve made about 6 batches of this so far, and I haven’t used exactly the same ingredients twice. I’m loving playing with it.
Most most interesting variation was adding pomegranate molasses instead of lemon juice. One of my lemons was unexpectedly rotten on the inside, so I went hunting for something else with a pleasant sour flavor. I saw the pomegranate molasses, and threw in a good-sized dollop, to approximate the amount of sourness from the lemon.
The result was interesting. Personally, I tend to prefer bourbon and tonic to gin and tonic; with bourbon, the pomegranate flavor really didn’t work. But with Tanq#10, it’s terrific.
07 Jul 2009 at 11:00 am 81. Jay
Jeffery,
Can you use quinine bark tea? Zooscape sells this and it seems like you could avoid the straining issues by using it.
08 Jul 2009 at 10:05 am 82. Babs
Not wanting to poison myself with quinine, does anyone know how much is released from 1/4 cup of bark and how many ppm is in the finished drink?
08 Jul 2009 at 12:18 pm 83. Richard
I’ve heard citric acid is a form of MSG, what can I substitute in its place?
08 Jul 2009 at 2:19 pm 84. Jay
Babs,
That was another reason I was considering using the tea instead of powder. It seems that with all the powder that is left, the amount of quinine would be high.
08 Jul 2009 at 6:42 pm 85. Daniel F.
Hey Jeffrey!
I made two batches recently…the first was awful – epic mistake.
The second came out alright, except that it’s excessively bitter. I think some commercial tonic waters are fairly gentle in terms of bitterness, but this one I could hardly choke down more than an ounce or so.
Is there anything I might have done wrong in the preperation process? Boiled it too long?
The citrusy tones are really good (I added some coriander) but the bitterness is intense. And there is a distinct bile-y note to it.
Any ideas?
08 Jul 2009 at 8:05 pm 86. Mike in Sacto
Made mine up with the addition of several cardamom pods and the zest and juice of 1/2 of a grapefruit. I filtered through a French press and then through a paper towel layered over a coffee filter. Color is beautiful. It came out quite strong – I am using 1/2 of an oz of the tonic with 2 oz of gin and 2+ of soda water to get a good balance. Very nice in those proportions. I think I overdid the cardamom, though. I’d probably use no more than 2 pods in future batches.
Thanks for this!!!!
09 Jul 2009 at 10:58 am 87. Babs
Richard,
True. Try substituting with a little organic cider vinegar for the citric acid.
It’s healthier anyway. ;)
09 Jul 2009 at 12:40 pm 88. Joe
Richard, whoever told you citric acid is a form of MSG is either woefully misinformed or is messing with you. MSG is monosodium glutamate, a salt of a naturally-occurring amino acid (MSG itself is produced in weird industrial processes and is basically to natural glutamate as high-fructose corn syrup is to fruit juice). It has a flavor termed umami, found in the taste of soy sauce, marmite, Parmesan and other cheeses, meat and meat broth, tomatoes, etc.
Citric acid, on the other hand, has a sour flavor (it’s also called “sour salt”). It’s basically the taste of citrus fruits, except without the sweetness or the different molecules that make, eg, limes taste different from oranges.
Anyway, you certainly wouldn’t want MSG or free glutamate in most cocktails (the Bloody Mary and the Caesar excepted), but citric acid is good. Malic acid is also okay. I tried making this recipe without citric acid, and it was really missing a big part of the flavor profile. You’d have to use a *lot* more citrus in the recipe if you omit it.
09 Jul 2009 at 1:27 pm 89. Babs
Jay,
I’m waiting on my quinine order. I’m planning to use basic herb tea ratios, 1 tsp to 1 cup water, so a TL of 4 tsp for this recipe. Of course this will probably throw everything else off and need more readjustment.
I think it’s important to remember that tonic water started out as a remedy for malaria, it’s medicinal. Colonials mixed it with gin to make their daily dose of medicine more palatable and it IS possible to overdose.
There are probably other (safer) bitter herbs you could use, a woman making it for herself could probably make it with cramp bark and get an equally similar bitter drink. Dandelion and chamomile are bitter and much safer even in what most people would consider to be high quantity – and they are MILDly bitter. So if cinchon bark is too bitter, I would suggest playing with these substitutes. :)
I will make the quinine version as my family swears by it as a leg cramp remedy, but I will also try a dandelion root version for more casual use. :)
11 Jul 2009 at 6:52 pm 90. Lisa
citric acid is not at all related to MSG.
Acids make things tart, there is citric acid naturally present in lemons, limes and other citrus (see name similarity) fruits.
MSG is Mono Sodium Glutamate, it is a umami or savory taste enhancer. There is nothing wrong with eating it either, it is some amino acids combined. Amino acids are present in food naturally, and yeast or miso paste naturally has the amino acids present, giving a similar flavor effect without it being MSG.
The ONLY similarity to citric acid and MSG is that both can be white crystals. But then again, so are salt and sugar.
Go ahead, use citric acid. I highly recommend it over others, vinegar would ruin the flavor for example. Too much juice may throw off the balance.
13 Jul 2009 at 8:19 am 91. mary clark
Hello Jeffrey, I am pretty lazy. Where can I purchase traditional tonic water in the U.S?
I found sites in London but not one here.
Thank You
15 Jul 2009 at 9:14 am 92. Richard
Please check out this site for hidden names of msg – it might shine some light on the citric acid subject
http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm
18 Jul 2009 at 12:26 pm 93. Kevin
Anyone know where you can buy cinchona bark and citric acid in NYC? I’ve been to quite a few shops and haven’t found anyone who stocks the bark.
02 Aug 2009 at 4:22 pm 94. Graeme
Jeffrey,
This idea got me so excited I ordered the ingredients the day I read your article, but my first attempt turned out terribly. Brutally acidic, overwhelmingly lemony, and with hardly any discernable quinine bite. A few potential problems I noticed:
1. My cinchona came as intact bark, rather than powder, though I sent it through a food processor for a good while before using it.
2. The recipe doesn’t specify dried or fresh lemongrass. I’m using dried.
3. The recipe doesn’t specify citric acid salt or citric acid solution. I used 1/4 cup citric acid salt.
Let me know what you think; I am determined to get this right.
Also, is there any way to make the final syrup colorless? That would look extremely polished!
03 Aug 2009 at 2:07 pm 95. caver01
Graeme,
I used fresh stalks of lemongrass. Used citric acid salt (dry form), and I used the powdered cinchona bark. All of the rest to the letter of the recipe, although my stalks of lemongrass were small so I only made a half batch. Results: excellent! Bitter, sour and sweet in a strong but balanced combination. I go about 2/3 ounce of the tonic to 2 ounces of seltzer. 10 times filtered through paper towels and finally through a coffee filter yeilded a light brown. I dunno how to completely eliminate the color, but for me and my guests that try it, the color adds to the experience that this isn’t your typical G&T. I look forward to experimenting with the ingredients in the next batch.
Has anyone tried using barley malt extract or honey as the sweetener? I am curious about how that might work.
07 Aug 2009 at 10:35 pm 96. Ben
I just made it, photographed the process, and posted it to Instructables. Thanks for the recipe and guidance, I am so jazzed about this.
09 Aug 2009 at 6:56 pm 97. Ronnie
I hope this question isn’t incredibly inappropriate but I find that no one else has asked!
I drink vodka tonics but I heard from someone that tried this recipe that it’s a bit heavy for VTs. Jeff, do you have any recommendations knowing this? I hope I don’t get dagger stares, I’m just not a huge gin fan!
Thanks so much in advance.
22 Aug 2009 at 2:58 pm 98. Bernhard
Very nice recipe!
Just tried it with some strong juniper genever.
Due to lack of agave syrup I used honey, which gives it a nice additional round up…and I measured free hand..as european we would appreciate if you do not stick on your unprecise cups but go for ISO measures like gram or ml.. ;-)
22 Aug 2009 at 3:01 pm 99. Bernhard
PS: concerning storing; how about using Vitamin C instead of citric acid and adding it after the boiled liquid has cooled down. This should 1. be healthier because of the temperature sensible Vit C and 2. also help as preservative.
31 Aug 2009 at 5:31 pm 100. Karl S.
This is marvelous information. I’m ready to do some experimentation on my own as soon as I can find a source for the bark (I’m thinking there’s a local spice merchant/brewer who will carry it).
I’m wondering, though. You’ve discussed making the tonic with the syrup and water from a syphon, or with club soda.
I’m wondering if there’s a third choice. What would it be like if you brewed the tonic, like your ginger beer? Would you need to boost the sugar content to feed the yeasts? Would it come out tasting too “beery”?
Thoughts?
01 Sep 2009 at 12:21 pm 101. Jessica
Here is a somewhat convoluted story…
So I went backpacking a couple weeks ago and bought myself a bottle of Aquavit (by local distillery House Spirits) as the elixor of choice for my flask.
Fast forward to today, during a conversation about what tonic water is the best with Tanqueray 10. Of course, I am not nearly so picky… By my mother & her best friend have this borderline obsession with 10 and you’ll just have to trust me that they are really quite snobby about it.
Anyhow, I am reading the Wikipedia entry for tonic water, and I see that somehow you can get a more traditional-style tonic, which is less sweet and more bitter. I’ve taken to ordering gin gimlets for this very reason… Because I prefer a tart/bitter drink to a sweet one.
So I do a Google search in my attempt to see if I can find a brand of tonic water that will be more of a thorwback to olden days, and this blog entry comes up.
I click on it, and what is on the sidebar? The “Norwegian Wood” entry.
Which brings me back to the Aquavit, and how strange the whole thing is… Because the backpacking trip is over and I was wondering what, if anything, I could mix it with, or if I would resign myself to drinking it straight.
So then I read the entry and thought to myself how much I would desperately like to try that drink… Only to realize, d’uh, I live in Portland and maybe I can actually go to Clyde Common and beg you to make it for me (since I don’t have any of those other ingredients and know that I am probably not motivated enough to go get them).
Fin.
02 Sep 2009 at 1:18 am 102. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Karl – You can indeed bottle-ferment the tonic water, but I would recommend bumping up the sugar content a notch to feed the yeast. I don’t know how much to recommend, but play with it and report your findings back here if you would.
Jessica – We’ll be expecting you for either a housemade tonic, a Norwegian Wood, or both sometime in the near future.
Cheers!
02 Sep 2009 at 11:28 am 103. Nadine
Has anyone tried this with Cinchona extract? Seems like it would get rid of the issue of straining the bark. I just ordered some off ZooScape: http://www.zooscape.com/cgi-bin/maitred/GreenCanyon/questp516409/jornada35242299
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I’m also curious about using Stevia for the sweetener. It has a bitter undertone that I don’t like for most things, but that might work great in tonic.
03 Sep 2009 at 4:14 am 104. Bernhard
Hi Imho, it should not be fermented, it won’t be tonic anymore..but an alcoholic beverage. The fermentation would also add different flavours.
It can off course be a nice drink..more a tonic beer ;-)
08 Sep 2009 at 5:36 pm 105. Franziska
I need sugar-free tonic to help keep lower the glycemic index of G&Ts. 45 different flavors of sugar-free syrup are available at http://www.davinci.com, but none are agave-flavored, (and some would be completely disgusting in this recipe. Suggestions?
15 Sep 2009 at 4:26 pm 106. Bryant
I love it, Jeffrey. I made my first batch as a gift (along with a lime tree and a bottle of Atlantic) and I immediately made another one for myself, with a few alterations: added juniper berries, crushed cardamom, and caraway seed. I’m not sure that I taste the juniper or cardamom, but the caraway shines. I also substituted a little brown sugar for some of the agave. It’s just wonderful. AND BONUS…I’ll be malaria-free!
Thanks.
18 Sep 2009 at 4:59 am 107. David
Uh, so here is what I did:
1l water
1 cup chopped lemongrass
34g cinchona bark
zest and juice of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp whole allspice berries
5g citric acid
little bit salt
500g acacia honey
What I changed and why:
4 cups are roughly one liter, so I went with that for the water.
I did not powder the chichona bark because I am too impatient to filter that stuff out and I was too lazy to powder those cinnamon like sticks (and because I did not have any tools around). I broke it into smaller pieces.
Then I put one tablespoon of allspice into the pan because I somehow misread that. I was really confused about the citric acid. I know the liquid one and I got cristalline form at home. After I mixed it in there, I read, that this would give me 80ml Of lemon Juice if mixed with 80ml water. bummer :D (or not?).
Uh, kosher salt? After I read that this would be salt without any additives.\ I put in some I found in the kitchen I was working in. Had Iodine in it. :(
And then I ran out of luck because I have browsed the syrup shelves in Germany enough times to know that there won’t be any agave syrup around. So I picked the solution with honey. I picked acacia honey, because you can get it everywhere (at least where I’m at) and it is a very mild one, nearly tasteless but sweet. I chose to follow your recommendation and mixed one third (in volume) honey with two thirds “tonic”.
Now I am looking at roughly 1,2 liters of tasty tonic syrup.
It is sweet and just a little bitter. That is because I did not powder the bark, I guess. And because I just took the last bottle, in which there is a little more honey than in the others. I like it. I hope the others will be less sweet. Otherwise I will post again, when I do it over with less honey. And better prepared.
Thank you Jeffrey.
05 Oct 2009 at 8:11 pm 108. jean-michel
you are so AWESOME for posting this. this is gonna rock the halloween party ! But i was wondering, where is the quinine in there ?
06 Oct 2009 at 12:40 pm 109. Hunter
Jeff,
I’m about ready to give this a go, but I had just a couple questions. First off, I could only come up with dried lemongrass; should I alter the quantity I use? And secondly, is that 1/4 cup of citric acid in a powdered or liquid form? I have the former…if you used liquid, would you happen to know the solid equivalence?
I’m really excited about this project…thanks for posting the recipe!
06 Oct 2009 at 12:42 pm 110. Hunter
Jean-Michel, the quinine is in the chinchona bark.
06 Oct 2009 at 1:27 pm 111. Hunter
This line:
“I can’t speak as to any medical benefits. I’m not a doctor.”
…cracked me up, and furthermore reminded me of a great line from a Texas Meat Purveyors song:
“I know you ain’t no doctor, but could you pour a dose about yea tall?”
Anyway, more to the point, I see several people here discussing the safety of this stuff, and I have to say I find it extremely unlikely that there’s any danger. According to the oracle the real, medicinal tonic was between 200-400 times stronger than what they FDA will let you sell as tonic water today. Sure, I’m betting (hoping, really) that this recipe has more than 83ppm quinine, but I still strongly doubt it has more than, say, one order of magnitude more. In which case we’d still be talking about pounding 20-40 G&T’s to get just one medicinal tonic dose. At that point, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the toxicity of the gin should probably be your primary concern.
06 Oct 2009 at 1:40 pm 112. Hunter
Ok, one more and I swear I’ll stop bombing the comments…
For those looking for an inexpensive online source for Chinchona, here’s where I got mine: http://www.herbaladvantage.com/showsearchproduct.cfm?CategoryID=2&ProductSKU=11-5650P
07 Oct 2009 at 2:28 pm 113. Cisco
Jeff,
Has anyone tried this with pure Kosher grade quinine? You can get it from Sigma-Aldrich. It would probably make a clearer (possibly less complex) drink, which may be preferable to some (not sure about myself, I’d have to try). I’ve looked and everyone seems to use the bark. Is there a reason for this?
08 Oct 2009 at 2:11 pm 114. Hunter
Success!
I went ahead and made a batch, using 1/3 cup of dried lemongrass and no allspice. Unbelievable. It was like I had never had a gin and tonic before. Jeffrey, thanks so much for posting this; you’ve improved my life.
@Cisco: I think the reason nobody’s using quinine sulfate is because it’s regulated as a drug and it’s frighteningly expensive. The site you mentioned wants $160…although it doesn’t say how much you get for that price. If there was a cheap source for the stuff I might give it a go. But really, I kind of like using the bark. It’s like a “proto-tonic” or something; the Raj already had isolated quinine sulfate when they invented the G&T, so we’re going back to construct one like it “would have been” hundreds of years before it was invented. Wrap your brain around that! Oh, and also I think the look is super cool as well…definitely drives home the uniqueness of what we’re doing.
22 Oct 2009 at 6:07 pm 115. brenda
I ordered dried lemongrass and yellow chichona bark. They called and the bark is now only available in 10 lb. lots. I had to then order from herbaladvantage.
22 Oct 2009 at 6:08 pm 116. brenda
Sorry, I ordered the lemongrass and bark from blessedherbs. They then returned the call saying the bark is only available in 10# lots.
03 Nov 2009 at 6:29 pm 117. brenda
I am now drinking a wonderful G&T w/o sugar.
Recipe:
4 c. water
1/3 c. dried lemongrass
1/4 c. cinchona bark
zest & juice of 1 orange
zest & juice of 1 lemon
zest & juice of 1 lime
5 allspice berries
1/4 c. citric acid
1/4 t. kosher salt
Combine and boil slowly 20 min. Strain through a sieve and a French Press. To 1 cup of cooled mix add 3/4 c. water and 9 Tablespoons of Xylitol. Stir to dissolve. Mix as recipe advises:
3/4 oz. of mix
1 1/2 oz. gin
2 oz. canned seltzer water
It’s good-oh yeah!!
14 Nov 2009 at 7:15 pm 118. Rebecca Linden
Hey I just got a sodastream carbonater to replace my old ISI(which I love, by the way). The only problem, is although they have a large selection of soda flavorings, they all have splenda in them – even the non-diets, a taste I fond unpleasant. I’m glad to find a tonic recipe, but is there anyone making a (splenda-free) tonic syrup out there for purchase?
26 Dec 2009 at 7:49 pm 119. Joe Joyce
Hi Jeff,
I have been unable to find citric acid in the store. I did find true lemon which has citric acid as it’s top ingredient. I am just not sure how much to use.
It says that one package equals 1 teaspoon of lemon. I am thinking that I will need like 30 packages?
Any ideas?
31 Dec 2009 at 5:28 pm 120. Nuriah
I just tried this recipe using Peruvian Bark Powder ordered from the Herbal Advantage website. The resulting concentrate (without adding agave or any sweetener) is a deep opaque crimson after straining twice through a gold-plate coffee filter and cotton cloth. I did also leave out the citrus juices, trying to keep it as low carb/low calorie as possible.
I made a gin & tonic with your recipe plus 1 packet Sun Crystals. It was perfect, with a clear salmony-orangey hue. Just tried a vodka tonic with Rain organic vodka (a great smooth vodka)–also perfect. Thanks for a great recipe. :)
31 Dec 2009 at 5:30 pm 121. Nuriah
Oh and I couldn’t get a screw-top CO2 charger for the soda siphon I got at a local antique shop, so I just used the Pellegrino knock-off from Whole Foods (their Italian soda water). Great!
06 Jan 2010 at 6:00 pm 122. Matt
FYI: the link above to Tenzing Momo is to c/s not the powder. I just got my 1lb of Cinchona C/S whatever that is. It looks like it’s chopped into larger pieces. Is it useable? Or should I try to return it?
Thanks,
Matt
16 Jan 2010 at 5:43 pm 123. Matt
I’ll follow up my own post for anyone who cares. I called Tenzing Momo, and they said it was the same stuff if I ground it up. I put it in my spice grinder (old coffee grinder) and gave it a whirl.
Currently waiting for it to cool down and trying to strain. I think that’s going to be the hard part.
23 Jan 2010 at 4:11 pm 124. Kevin
I made my batch using tensing momo’s powdered cinchona. I’ve strained and strained and no change to the clarity of the liquid. At this point, I’m just going to give it a try and hope that I don’t have to much quinine in it. Next time I try this, I’m going to use whole bark, slightly ground, rather than the powder (which was way too finely ground).
25 Jan 2010 at 3:22 pm 125. Eric
Made a batch last night and it’s fantastic! It’s excellent the way it is, but I think I’d like to play with some of the flavors because, well, I’m a tinkerer. Just like to play with the possibilioties.
The agave syrup is critical here. Great call on that. It lends a softer sweetness than simple syrup would.
Nuriah– If you’re leaving out the fruit juice for calorie concerns, your giving up a lot of flavor for almost no caloric advantage. One each of a lemon, lime, and orange adds a total of about 100 calories to a mix that makes a minimum of 40 drinks. That’s 2.5 calories/drink. There’s no way the flavor trade-off is worth 2.5 calories.
By the way, in Seattle, cinchona can be purchased really cheaply at Dandelion in Ballard. The guy who sold it to me knew exactly what I wanted it for and had made tonic water himself, so we had a nice chat about it. Really good guy. Also picked up the citric acid and allspice there. Got enough of everything for four batches for about $12.
31 Jan 2010 at 10:27 am 126. Jeppe Morgenthaler
When googling myself (who doesn’t do that from time to time?) I have -not surprisingly- stumbled over you, good sir, a few times. That tonic sounds incredible. I’m not really a drinks expert, but I’ll be checking some of these recipes out for sure. Keep up the good work!
All the best,
Jeppe Morgenthaler
Copenhagen, Denmark
31 Jan 2010 at 12:28 pm 127. Barry
Found this site this weekend and ordered supplies. Really getting excited about this project!! Thanks everyone.
31 Jan 2010 at 5:42 pm 128. Kevin from Comment #124
Mine turned out really good (despite the straining issues). Makes me want to experiment with some new flavors. Alas, I am out of gin.
31 Jan 2010 at 6:52 pm 129. Matt
I was able to put my cinchona into a spice grinder (old coffee grinder). The end result was delicious. I’m also excited to try another batch, so I’m giving away small bottles to people who like it.
I’m thinking grapefruit for sure, replace the allspice with something else…suggestions?
Thanks for the recipe.
oh, and I wouldn’t attempt this without a french press strainer.
M
02 Feb 2010 at 3:19 pm 130. Barry
Where are you getting the cinchona? I ordered from Rain Tree and they cancelled the order the following day since they were out.
13 Feb 2010 at 10:03 pm 131. Mysterious Stranger
I got my cinchona from Tenzing Momo. I followed the link Jeffrey provided to their “c/s” version, which seems to be more shredded than finely ground. Worked great for me.
I’m curious, has anybody come up with a Bitter Lemon recipe based on this tonic recipe?
14 Feb 2010 at 12:10 pm 132. Ken
I’ve been at this for about a year now since finding this. I love the recipe, although I tweak it here and their.
One thing I do is cold brew the cinchona with just the citric acid in six quarts of water (I do double batches). I leave it at room temp and shake occasionally for a day or so. I then put it in the fridge overnight and the bark settles to the bottom. I then take a liter water bottle with the bottom cut out. I unwrap three cotton balls and stuff a thick portion of this into the neck via the bottom (I use a sharpening steel). I then insert the neck into that of a larger bottle, after which I decant a portion of the brew through the filter apparatus. Be careful not to disturb the sediment. After most is passed through, I can finish off that last little bit. The cold brewing is more selective. You get all the quinine, but less of the bark taste. You still get a deep red hue and great clarity.
I brew the other ingredients in the remaining two cups of water on the stove and run that through a gold coffee filter. For pristine clarity, run it all through the cotton again. It will go quite fast this time.
21 Feb 2010 at 12:15 pm 133. Rob
Hi
Along with many of you people I find commercial tonic water far too sweet and have been enthused by the contributors to this site. My problem is that I cant find cinchona powder in the UK. I have found a source for a it in liquid form (a tincture). Does anyone know if this can be used as a substitute and if so what the comparison on quantity used is with powder?
Thanks
Rob
22 Feb 2010 at 10:09 am 134. Ken
Rob
Tinctures are alcohol based infusions which usually come in small bottles. In theory it might work, but I imagine it would take quite a few bottles of tincture and would be very expensive. The result would probably be clear, rather than reddish brown.
24 Feb 2010 at 10:41 am 135. Rob
Thanks very much for this Ken.
It sounds as tincture isnt very practical so I have been in touch with my sister who lives in California. She has found a source of cinchona in ”chopped” form. Im not sure how finely it is chhopped, but if anyone could provide any advice on whether this would do the trick for tonic, I would be very grateful.
Rob
24 Feb 2010 at 3:21 pm 136. Ken
Rob
Chopped, I think, will work fine. What is going on here is an acidic extraction. Quinine is an alkaloid, which is an alkaline compound derived from a plant. This reacts with an acid, in our case citric acid. A salt is formed, quinine citrate, which dissolves easily in water. If you use the cold brew method, which I really like, you might give it an extra day to pull out the quinine. Alternatively, you could grind the bark down finer with a blade type coffee grinder to speed things along.
I should mention that when I brew, I don’t add any sweetener until I’m done. I add agave or organic sugar simple syrup along with the tonic concentrate to the water prior to carbonation.
An interesting note is that the form of quinine in the tonic water depends on what acid is used in the process of making it. Most commercial tonic water contains quinine hydrochloride, which indicates it was made with hydrochloric acid. Here, we’re using citric acid, which results in quinine citrate.
Good luck, and thanks Jeff for the best homemade tonic page around!
03 Mar 2010 at 1:03 pm 137. Rob
Thanks very much Ken – you guys are brilliant! I have a consignment of cinchona on its way from California and I cant wait to get going on it. I’ll let you know how I get on.