You can create delicious and natural tonic water at home with our Homemade Tonic Water Kit, which has all the spices and botanicals you need, plus a recipe for making a syrup that you can simply add to soda water and your liquor of choice. It's easy to make and better-tasting than any bottled tonic water.
The key ingredients in tonic water are cinchona bark, a natural source of quinine, and citric acid, which helps preserve the syrup and adds a tart, refreshing flavor. Our Classic Tonic Water Kit adds lemongrass, cubeb pepper and allspice berries. Our Lavender Tonic Water Kit adds lavender, french thyme and fennel seed. You can experiment with all kinds of delicious botanicals to make your own delicious tonic water.
Homemade Tonic Water
Makes about 1 quart of concentrate, for 30 to 60 cocktails
Ingredients:
1 oz cinchona powder
1/2 cup dried lemongrass
1/4 cup citric acid (use more if you prefer a more tart flavor)
1 teaspoon allspice berries
1 teaspoon cubeb pepper
zest and juice from 1 orange, lemon and lime
4 cups water
3 cups cane sugar
Directions:
Add all ingredients except citric acid and sugar to water and simmer on low heat for 25 minutes. Allow to cool and strain, first through a sieve and then through cheesecloth.
Add sugar and citric acid. (We include more than you need in our kit, so add it a little at a time to taste). Pour into a jar and refrigerate.
For a gin and tonic, add 1-2 tablespoons homemade Tonic Water concentrate, a finger or two of gin, ice and seltzer water. Stir and enjoy!
With a good fried rice recipe under your belt, leftover white rice never needs to go to waste again. We top this version with a crispy egg fried in sesame oil and sprinkle it with our bright and slightly spicy Shichimi Togarashi.
We are big fans of popcorn in our house, not only because it's the perfect snack to go with movie night, but because it's a great palette for spice experiments!
Lynda Meyer
March 22, 2019
Awesome! Can hardly wait to try this.