PrintA Tonic for the Average 'Tonic'
I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but here in Seattle, summer is taking its time to roll around. On Friday, though, the forecast says we’ll be in the 80s, and with Memorial Day fast approaching, it looks like gin & tonic season is here.
Too bad I hate them like poison.
Well, maybe I should put that in past tense. Until recently, pouring a gin and tonic typically entailed cracking the lid on a plastic liter bottle, and pouring a fizzy, somewhat oily mix of carbonated water, high-fructose corn syrup and assorted flavorings over ice with a good belt of gin. To my taste, it’s too sweet and synthetically bitter at the same time, and on those occasions when I’ve been handed a cup of gin & tonic at a barbecue, I always wind up trying to drink half the mess good-naturedly in gulps so I won’t taste the tonic, then conveniently losing my cup when I just can’t take any more.
In recent years, however, there’s been a growing movement to rescue tonic's reputation. Put off by the sickly sweetness and artificial flavors of mass-produced commercial tonic water, adventurous bartenders such as Daniel Shoemaker at Teardrop Lounge in Portland, Oregon, have been crafting their own tonic waters using natural ingredients. Some entrepreneurs and artisinal producers are following suit, introducing small-batch tonic waters that taste of real botanicals and are lightly sweetened—a vast improvement on the stuff hiding behind yellow labels in the grocery store.
One artisan product is Q Tonic. Made with Peruvian cinchona bark and sweetened with agave nectar, Q Tonic has a crisp, dry bitterness and a gentle, long-lasting sweetness that meshes with the flavor of gin, rather than overwhelming it. You may have to do some searching to find Q Tonic, but once you’ve tasted the vegetal bitterness of true quinine, those big plastic jugs of tonic water just won’t do anymore.
This year, who knows? I might even break out G&Ts at my own summer get-togethers.
For all you tonic drinkers, what types are your favorites? Any other artisan brands you’d recommend, or have you gone all-out and made a batch of your own?
About the author: Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
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6 Comments:
I agree, modern day "tonic water" doesn't cut it. For a time I was substituting Schweppes Bitter Lemon, before that too became overly synthetic and hard to find. I am currently experimenting with other soda extracts like real root beer with about twenty different old-fashioned herbs, barks and roots (soaking in vodka right now), so quinine and other bitters may be just as easy. Making your own bitters for cocktails is fun as well, as are your own maraschino cherries, cocktail onions etc. I am anxious for more on this topic. Time to up the cocktail revolution again!
BreweRepublic at 6:18PM on 05/14/08
There's a place here in St. Paul, MN that makes its own tonic. It's earthy, slightly herbal tasting and very very good! It's unlike anything else I've ever tasted and I've drunk a lot of tonic. If you're in St. Paul, I really recommend checking the place out: It also has a fun name: The Strip Club. I wouldn't mind trying to make my own at some point.
Sarajahii at 6:40PM on 05/14/08
I've been enjoying the Whole Foods brand of tonic water. It's sweetened with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn death and makes a lovely gin & tonic. The best selling point really is the price though, at about $2.60 for a 6pack in Manhattan, compared to $9.99 for a 4pack of Q tonic, its simply financial suicide for me to use artisan-level tonic water.
cafepeach at 7:22PM on 05/14/08
I adore g+t's of all kinds. I don't understand the distaste for the standard tonic. The store brand is perfectly suitable. In my opinion, the gin is the major flavor determinant. How about making your own gin? That would be interesting.
ckrusema at 1:00AM on 05/15/08
We did a tonic taste-test of all the boutique brands we could find (actually, two tests, now that I think of it) compared with the usual suspects. Our favorite by far is the Fever-Tree.
anitaepler at 1:43AM on 05/15/08
Is it hard to make your own tonic... I've recently been interested in old-style cocktails from Wondrich's book "Imbibe" and between that and another blog i'm ready to make my own ginger beer and now my own tonic water. Anyone have a good resource?
bobfole at 3:26AM on 05/15/08