What is Tonic?

Just like gin needs to have Juniper, and Absinthe needs to contain Wormwood, tonic needs to contain quinine, and it has a history dating all the way back to the 17th Century, where the Spanish had been using it to treat malaria after being shown the remedy by the South Americans in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

By the 19th Century British officers and soldiers stationed in India and other mozzie rich countries were drinking tonic water to stave off malaria - the tonic water being consumed was carbonated water, sugar and large amounts of quinine.

The first commercial tonic water was patented and produced by Pitt & Co, which led to the rise in popularity of one of the most commonly consumed mix drinks today - the Gin & Tonic. But we’ll talk more about that in the next article.

Like most medicinal botanicals, quinine is very bitter, necessitating the addition of sugar to make it somewhat palatable. Modern tonic water has much less quinine in it, as we no longer rely on it for malaria prevention, and your traditionally flavoured tonics (Indian or Mediterranean) would also have a citrus flavour. Nowadays you can get a wide range of different flavoured tonics, most of them containing botanicals native to the area.

Tonic water has been around for centuries, and while there is a rise of other mixers being used for your favourite gin, the diversity in production processes and flavours means that there is enough around to keep people interested, for a very long time.