Tonic: what you need to know + 5 recipes at home

Tonic A carbonated soft drink mixed with quinine. Originally used as a preventive and curative agent against malaria.

Today, tonic has a much lower quinine content and is consumed due to its characteristic bitter taste, however, due to popular culture, more chemical additives and sugar have been added to it.

Also, the drink is often used in cocktails, the most famous is gin tonic.

What you need to know about tonic

1. How did the gin tonic cocktail come about?

   Quinine powder is so bitter that British soldiers stationed in India in the early 19th century mixed it with soda and sugar. Naturally, one of the soldiers could not resist and poured gin into the drink, and this famous cocktail was born.

2. Fluorescent properties of quinine

   Quinine fluoresces blue in water under ultraviolet light. In fact, quinine’s sensitivity to ultraviolet light is such that it will fluoresce even in direct sunlight.

3. Title History

   The word quinine comes from the first known European who was cured by it, the Countess of Chinchon, wife of the Viceroy of Peru. She contracted malaria in the Lanawara Valley on the Pacific coast. It is believed that she was cured thanks to the bark of the cinchona tree, ground into powder.

4. When quinine came to Europe

   Quinine bark was first brought to Europe by the Spanish naturalist Bernabe Cobo.

5. Treatment and prevention with quinine

   In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limits the amount of quinine in tonic water to 83 mg per liter. While the daily therapeutic dose of quinine is in the range of 500-1000 mg.

   For effective prevention of malaria, consider this: 10 mg per 1 kg of your weight, every eight hours (for example: 2100 mg per day for an adult weighing 70 kg).

   An overdose of quinine is accompanied by many side effects: tinnitus, dizziness, vomiting, increased heart rate, hand tremors, insomnia and others.

   The lethal dose is about 10 grams.

6. There are more than 23 plants of this species

   But not every species has a sufficient content of quinine in the bark of a tree. It took many years to research this species before the Europeans found the one that produced the largest amount of quinine. These species were: Cinchona Pubescens and C. Calisaya.

7. Schweppes is the most famous tonic in Russia

   The same bitter taste and many variations in addition to the original recipe. Schweppes appeared in Russia in February 2000. The exact proportions of quinine in the drink are unknown, but it is believed that the first tonics were 400 times bitterer than Schweppes!

8. Tonic is great for hangovers.

   And quinine stimulates appetite by increasing the secretion of the glands of the gastrointestinal tract and very well contributes to the removal of toxins from the body.

   To increase the appetite, quinine is used in various aperitifs such as Dubonnet, Byrrh, Picon and many others.

9. Not recommended for pregnant women

   Quinine causes uterine contractions, so it has long been used in obstetrics. Of course, we are not talking about small doses, which are usually used in the production of commercial tonics.

Tips before starting

1. To prepare a tonic, syrups or tinctures are first made, then they are diluted with sparkling water. Use neutral-tasting (non-healing) highly carbonated water, or carbonate it yourself.

2. Ready tonic can be bottled for storage, just remember to close the lids tightly. All bottles must be sterile before bottling.

3. Standard proportions for dilution: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6.

4. It is extremely difficult to find cinchona bark in Russia, so we recommend looking for it on eBay or Amazon, other foreign sites are also suitable, but the cost of delivery to the Russian Federation can upset.

5. Experiment. For example, you can add 1 liter of sugar-free juice from cranberries, strawberries or cherries, or a whole mix of berries to the first recipe! So you get a completely new tonic recipe. Use 200-250 g of berries per 1 liter of water for fruit drink.

6. Store syrups and tonic tinctures in the refrigerator, depending on the ingredients used, the shelf life can be up to 2 months.

Tonic recipe №1

Ingredients

1. Cinchona bark – 22 g

2. Water – 1 L

3. White sugar – 800 g

4. Citric acid – 35 g

5. Lemongrass – 3 sticks

6. Lime – 2 pcs.

7. Lemon – 2 pcs.

8. Grapefruit – 1 pc.

9. Cardamom – 1 grain

10. Sea salt – 3 g

11. Allspice – 3 pcs.

12. Pink pepper – 10 pcs.

Method of preparation

1. Grind the bark, peel the tops of the lemongrass and cut off the roots from the sticks, the central part is peeled from the upper leaves and cut into circles.

2. Remove the zest and squeeze the juice from the citrus fruits.

3. Mash all the spices and cook all the ingredients without sugar along with citrus juices for 30 minutes over medium heat, cool when finished.

4. Strain through cheesecloth, then using a filter bag, add sugar and bring to a boil until thickened.

5. Tonic syrup is ready, add soda and enjoy.

Tonic recipe №2

Ingredients

1. Water – 700 ml

2. Cinchona bark – 30 g

3. Citric acid – 62 g

4. Lime peel – 11 g

5. Lemon peel – 14 g

6. Orange peel – 14 g

7. Lemongrass – 4 sticks

8. Allspice – 4 pcs.

9. Green cardamom – 3 pcs.

10. Lavender – 2 bar spoons

11. Salt – ¼ bar spoon

For sugar syrup

1. Sugars – 600 g

2. Water – 400ml

Method of preparation

1. Mash all the spices and mix all the ingredients except the sugar syrup in a jar with a lid and shake well.

2. Leave to infuse in a cool, dark place for 72 hours, shaking occasionally (at least once a day).

3. Make sugar syrup by dissolving sugar in water, bring to a boil, filter the infusion through gauze or a filter bag.

4. Mix the syrup with the infusion. Add soda and tonic is ready!

Tonic recipe №3

Ingredients

1. Cinchona bark – 30 g

2. Citric acid – 60 g

3. Black pepper – 1 bar spoon

4. Coriander – 1 bar spoon

5. Fennel seeds – 1 bar spoon

6. Nutmeg – ½ pc.

7. Green cardamom – 3 pcs.

8. Carnation – 1 pcs.

9. Water – 1 L

10. Sugars – 250 g

11. Lime – 5 pcs.

Method of preparation

1. Remove the zest from the limes and squeeze out the juice.

2. Mash all the spices and bring to a boil without sugar along with lime juice and turn off, let it brew for 30 minutes.

3. Filter with gauze, or with a packet filter.

4. Add sugar and bring to a boil again, cool.

5. Add soda and tonic is ready!

Tonic recipe №4

Ingredients

1. Water – 800 ml

2. Cinchona bark – 30 g

3. Citric acid – 40 g

4. Lime peel – 11 g

5. Lemon peel – 14 g

6. Orange peel – 14 g

7. Lemongrass – 3 sticks

8. Allspice – 4 pcs.

9. Cardamom pod – 3 pcs.

10. Kaffir lime – 3 leaves

11. Sea salt – ¼ bar spoon

12. Sugar syrup – 750 ml

Method of preparation

1. Peel the tops of the lemongrass and cut off the sticks from the roots, the central part is peeled from the upper leaves and cut into circles.

2. Mash all the spices and mix all the ingredients except the sugar syrup in a jar with a lid and shake well.

3. Leave to infuse in a cool dark place for 72 hours, shake occasionally (at least once a day).

4. Prepare sugar syrup 2 to 1 (500 g sugar / 250 ml water), dissolve sugar in water, bring to a boil, filter the infusion through cheesecloth or filter bag.

5. Mix the syrup with the infusion.

6. Add soda and tonic is ready!

Tonic recipe №5

Ingredients

1. Ground quinine – 70 g

2. Citric acid – 120 g

3. Lime peel – 11 g

4. Lemongrass – 3 sticks

5. Vanilla – ½ stick

6. Kaffir lime – 3 leaves

7. Star anise – 1 pc.

8. Carnation – 2 pcs.

9. Green cardamom – 1 pcs.

10. Allspice – 1 pcs.

11. Dry thyme – 1 bar spoon

12. Dry lavender – 1 bar spoon

Method of preparation

1. Process the lemongrass as in the previous recipe.

2. Mash all the spices and cook without sugar along with citrus juices for 30 minutes over medium heat, until syrupy, cool when finished.

3. Filter with gauze, then with a bag filter.

4. Add sugar and bring to a boil until thickened.

5. The tonic syrup is ready. It remains to add soda.

Relevance: 02.05.2019

Tags: Soft Drinks, Soft Drink Recipes