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.

And, Tom, the answer is yes.

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.

I think you missed this crucial step:

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

Thanks.

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.

http://rain-tree.com/products/quinine-powder.htm

Kevin

Thank

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.

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!