Tonic Water - a rant
ton·ic/ˈtänik/
adjective
- 1.giving a feeling of vigor or well-being
DaveSchmidt said:
ton·ic/ˈtänik/
adjective
- 1.giving a feeling of vigor or well-being
I guess not having malaria will do that for you.
I gave up tonic years ago. Too much sugar. Now I drink seltzer. With a healthy squeeze of lime, its a perfect companion to vodka. Or gin.
shh said:
I want to know what shh is whispering....
(This apparently-blank comment but not really blank also happened in Mr I's lost Toby thread. It was the second comment, there, too. On both my iPads including the one with latest iOS. I'm using Safari as my browser)
joanne said:
shh said:
I want to know what shh is whispering....
(This apparently-blank comment but not really blank also happened in Mr I's lost Toby thread. It was the second comment, there, too. On both my iPads including the one with latest iOS. I'm using Safari as my browser)
Blank on my iPhone also.
sac said:
joanne said:
shh said:
I want to know what shh is whispering....
(This apparently-blank comment but not really blank also happened in Mr I's lost Toby thread. It was the second comment, there, too. On both my iPads including the one with latest iOS. I'm using Safari as my browser)
Blank on my iPhone also.
Blank on my laptop.
Oh sorry, it was just a laughing emoticon, nothing too mysterious.
I’m laughing partially because my parents have this big bar and I’ve found lots of expired tonic in there.
Unless you drink it all the time those quart bottles are not great. The mass market stuff is pretty bad and too sweet. We were in Ireland a few years ago and I decided the gin and tonic would be my drink while we were there. Each bar gave me my own individual tonic water and it was much better quality that what we usually find here.
Years ago I bought a great tonic water from Eden Gourmet and it was $7 for a liter. That you don’t let expire.
The Fever-Tree tonic (found even at Shoprite, hidden among the mixers) is so much better than the big-name brands. There's also a brand called Q that is just as good. Both come in single-serving bottles.
I've thought about making my own tonic but I'm having trouble sourcing cinchona bark for a reasonable price.
you can make your own tonic with seltzer and quinine concentrate syrup. This brand is pretty good, and a $16 bottle will make about 20 cocktails.
and as for mass-produced brands, I like Schweppes, which this taste test ranked first, over some of the artisanal brands:
https://vinepair.com/buy-this-booze/5-best-tonic-waters-gin-tonic/
No no no. I am ranting against tonic water and rejecting it outright. I dont want suggestions for better tonic water!
I am of firm resolve and refuse to be swayed by your seductive talk of artisanal tonic water.
I frequently drink gin and tonic, and often mix with Schweppes, which can be purchased in both regular and diet. Some of the specialty tonics, especially with bitters, although more expensive and harder to find, are delicious. Tonic not only is good for malaria, but the quinine in it is recommended for foot and leg cramps that I've been known to get at night, so there's another reason for me. I'm not trying to convince MrIncredible otherwise, because he clearly won't back down under any circumstances, but am mentioning this in the spirit of different strokes for different folks, rather than conversion.
mrincredible said:
No no no. I am ranting against tonic water and rejecting it outright. I dont want suggestions for better tonic water!
I am of firm resolve and refuse to be swayed by your seductive talk of artisanal tonic water.
you shouldn't hold it against tonic water that you keep forgetting you have it at home and buy some more.
ml1 said:
you shouldn't hold it against tonic water that you keep forgetting you have it at home and buy some more.
Are you expecting me to take personal responsibility for my choices? I don't see how that helps at all.
Tonic water is the problem. I suppose some folks see it as a solution but that's only true in a chemical sense.
mrincredible said:
No no no. I am ranting against tonic water and rejecting it outright. I dont want suggestions for better tonic water!
I am of firm resolve and refuse to be swayed by your seductive talk of artisanal tonic water.
I'm willing to trade your surplus of tonic water for my can't-remember purchases: three unopened jars of hoisin sauce.
May I add my personal minimalist rant? Diet tonic - ewwww! Has anyone in MOL-land ever heard that brilliant song about Earl Grey Tea? ('Is it Eau-de-cologne or just plain wee?') I think of that every time I'm conned into sipping this monstrosity, which overpowers the tonic with the fake sweeteners.*shudder*
joanne said:
May I add my personal minimalist rant? Diet tonic - ewwww! Has anyone in MOL-land ever heard that brilliant song about Earl Grey Tea? ('Is it Eau-de-cologne or just plain wee?') I think of that every time I'm conned into sipping this monstrosity, which overpowers the tonic with the fake sweeteners.*shudder*
Yes! Diet tonic is even worse. I've never purchased it myself but it has snuck in with a friend who came for a BYO potluck picnic.
You'll get me ranting on what passes for Bitters these days next, but I'm confined to plain sparkling water these days! 
Joanne, way back in the day, I was susceptible to leg cramps because I was on a strict version of the Atkins diet. Since I had to avoid sugar, I drank diet tonic water, but it was so long ago that it used saccharine as the artificial sweetener. Yuck!
I swear the nastiness of that combo lingered in the mouth for weeks.
That stuff was effin’ EVIL!
Sorry but tonic is very “in” again. Lots of high-end brands, flavors. Jumping out at the wrong time.
mrincredible said:
No no no. I am ranting against tonic water and rejecting it outright. I dont want suggestions for better tonic water!
I am of firm resolve and refuse to be swayed by your seductive talk of artisanal tonic water.
Tonic water doesn’t taste good.
I don’t understand the appeal.
I think it’s the slightly medicinal tanginess that contrasts with everything else in your glass that’s meant to be the attraction, plus on a really hot steamy day a well-made something-and-tonic is refreshing. But I also think it’s like fresh coriander/cilantro: you love it or think it’s vile.
BTW, the medical thinking on quinine for restless legs and cramps changed over a decade ago, after several Cochrane studies showed it actually didn’t make any difference. The shock waves recoiling around the Commonwealth were enough for New Scientist to comment a couple of times on the phenomenon!
And apparently there are some risks to higher doses of quinine, like if I drank all the bottles in my house at once.
conandrob240 said:
Sorry but tonic is very “in” again. Lots of high-end brands, flavors. Jumping out at the wrong time.
I think you’ve just been seduced by Big Quinine! 
mrincredible said:
And apparently there are some risks to higher doses of quinine, like if I drank all the bottles in my house at once.
...as if.
wait, would anyone drink that much??? Gosh.
(not doubting you, just wondering how anyone could)
yahooyahoo said:
Tonic water doesn’t taste good.
I don’t understand the appeal.
That’s what the gin is for.
I’m fine with gin and diet tonic. It’s carb free
I’m going to look into these tonic syrups. I mentioned to my husband who drinks all kind of special beer and he didn’t get the difference. I said it’s like drinking bud vs the beer he enjoys. I happen to like the flavor Of tonic, don’t like too much sugar and won’t use artificial sweeteners, so maybe a dash of syrup into seltzer will do the trick.
I'm done with the stuff.
I took a quick inventory of Tonic water bottles. I've got like seven of the one-liter bottles, then a six-pack of the dinky little Canada Dry bottles full.
WHY!?!?!
Because every time we have some kind of party or holiday dinner I'll be at the store and always think "Oh, someone might want a gin and tonic or vodka tonic. Do I have any tonic water in the house? Better buy some!" Or "I know I have some bottles of tonic water at home but I think they're old and probably gone flat."
So yeah. Tonic surplus. And my number of tonic bottles after the event is usually within a small rounding error of the number I had before the event. Nobody drinks the stuff. It clutters up the pantry room in the basement for years.
So as we enter the season of holidays I'm saying no more! I'm done with tonic, and free of its effervescent quinine weirdness.The mosquitos are done for the year so nobody is catching malaria.
Okay. I feel better.