Move Over Gin, We’ve Got Tonic Fever

Just a few decades ago, gin & tonics were considered rather
stodgy and boring, the drink of suburbanites at the golf club.
Today, the century-old drink is hot again. In part, that’s due to a
boom in craft gin distilling—a ginaissance! But there’s also been a
new wave of experimentation with gin’s life partner, tonic water.
This episode, we focus on the tonic side of the equation. Which
genius came up with the idea of combining quinine, a malaria drug,
with soda water and sugar in order to create this refreshing
beverage? How did the bark of a South American tree end up in
everything from hair-restoring shampoo to cocktails? And is it true
that the G&T began life as a pleasant way for the Anglo-Indian
elite to take their anti-malarials? This episode, we take a sip of
tonic’s history with Kim Walker and Mark Nesbitt, authors of the
new book Just the Tonic: A Natural History of Tonic Water. Listen
in for all that, plus beef-infused tonic wines, Aperol spritzes,
and the gin & tonic’s true origin story. Cheers! Learn more
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