The market · Acids and agents

Tonic water

Carbonated water flavoured with quinine (from cinchona bark), sugar and citrus — bittersweet, and the other half of a gin and tonic.

bitter · quinine · citrusy

Goes with

london dry ginblanc vermouthlimecampari

Knowing it

Where to buy
Small bottles. Brands differ more than you'd think in sweetness and bitterness; light tonics have much less sugar.
A little history
Quinine was taken against malaria across the 19th-century British Empire, and the gin and tonic is usually said to have started as a way to get it down.
Worth knowing
One part gin to two or three of tonic, a glass packed with ice, poured gently down a barspoon. Stir once — the bubbles are the point.

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