Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Can you make your own tonic water?

I have found a wonderful recipe sent to me from one of my customers on how to make tonic water from Quinine all natural Amazon bark plant. Let me share it with you!

The problem with homemade tonic water has always been a flavor profile that was too esoteric for the general audience. This recipe takes some of the positive qualities people have come to understand from commercial tonic water and updated them with fresh ingredients.

4 cups water1 cup chopped lemongrass (roughly one large stalk)
¼ cup powdered cinchona bark (quinine powder)
zest and juice of 1 orangezest and juice of 1 lemonzest and juice of 1 lime
1 tsp whole allspice berries¼ cup citric acid
¼ tsp Kosher salt

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once mixture starts to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and strain out solids using a strainer or chinois. You’ll need to fine-strain the mixture, as it still contains quite a bit of the cinchona bark. You can use a coffee filter and wait for an hour or more, or do as I do and run the whole mixture through a French coffee press.
Once you’re satisfied with the clarity of your mix, heat it back up on the stovetop or microwave, and then add ¾ cup of agave syrup to each cup of your hot mix. Stir until combined, and store in the attractive bottle of your choice.
You now have a syrup that you can carbonate with seltzer water; I use my iSi soda siphon for some nicely-textured bubbles. To assemble a gin and tonic, use ¾ ounce of syrup, 1½ ounces of gin and 2 ounces of soda water over ice.
Let me know how it works for you and enjoy!

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