How to Cocktail: New Fashioned Gin & Tonic
Lawman shows us how to make tonic syrup from scratch using cinchona bark, a natural source of quinine that was originally used to combat malaria.
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Wonder if reducing flat tonic water, gently, to a syrup would approximate this ingredient?
Despite everyone complaining about having to get cinchona bark, I appreciate the education. I learned where quinine came from and its association with malaria.
As for the complexity of the recipe, it all depends on how far back you want to go and how much you want to be involved in the process. You can skip ahead and buy tonic syrup or you can buy cinchona seeds and grow your own tree. Either way, I believe we should encourage more awareness with our food, not discourage and shame anyone for the exploration. We get great combinations and new flavors because of our curiosity.
What ever happened to simple martini 🍸 whisky 🥃 on the rocks or a nice tequila with lemon ❓
I'm ready to try this new Gin and Tonic. I have all the ingredients and ready to go…..
I liked the syrup I Made before but I'll try yours. All those whiners below are missing out on a great cocktail.
How funny to read all the comments — I was thinking the same things. The best thing about gin and tonic is the taste of the gin! This recipe might be fun to do once, just to try it, but mostly I think I'd stick with the classic g-and-t. Besides, where do you get cinchona bark? Oh, yeah. I bet it's on Amazon.
Where does one find this bark? This is not what I expect from you people.
Leave the G&T alone. It doesn't need reinventing.
Typical PBS crowd…all boomers complaining, NO ONE mentioning how beautiful he is. Hey Lawman!
I would recommend getting a tonic syrup kit to make the process easier and faster. The one I use comes from the Oaktown spice shop and has all the spices pre-measured; just add water, sugar, & citrus. Oaktown ships everywhere in the US and I highly recommend it.
Here I’ve been making my gin and tonics with gin and tonic like an idiot!
what a boring community over here… only people that cry about 1 hour of extra work and 1 special ingredient. try out new things guys!
The trouble with craft G&Ts is that gin, tonic, and bitters all have super complex flavor profiles, and not everything pairs well with each other. Hard to get right–so many ways to go wrong. Cooking up your own tonic might be fun, but it's unlikely to result in the perfect G&T for all time and all tastes.
Glad you are back for a new season
"Anytime" drink with ingredients you can find "nowhere". Get the fuck out.
Sounds amazing
Its not more sophisticated. Its just a pain in the ass, which for the uninitiated passes as sophisticated….
It would be better if you had used clear ice!
I'll have to try this since i drink GnT all year long…. but one question. From my Herbal knowledge, most of the benificial attributes that are in barks are not water soluble, no matter how much you boil them. Alcohol, on the other hand, which i gladly will lick, does the trick most of the time….so, me thinks that this tonic could be a wee bit better if you do a preliminary soaking of the cinchona bark in some high grade vodka. { if your gonna do something, ya gotta do it right ! } Cheers🍸🍹🍷😚
Okay, now I'm gonna be totally disappointed if the next cocktail recipe doesn't feature Eye of Newt.
And how many people have those ingredients handy or are willing to search them out? I’ll stick w my grandfathers original, year round gin & tonic, nice vid though.
Come on Man! I want a frkn drink, not a cooking recipe with ingredients I can't find at my local supermarket.
By the time I sourced the materials and made this drink, I could be on my 6th G&T.
it's feasible you could just make tonic syrup by… i don't know… reducing tonic water down to a syrup on a low heat…?