Tonic water
“Tonic water is just another soft drink really, the sugar content is much the same,” Joel Feren - Dietician
Just to show how I can't really adapt to luxury hotel life, when the hotel bar people come round to us when we are sitting by the pool and ask if they can get us something to drink (or eat), I very occasionally ask for a glass of tonic water. I feel very decadent as I sip it through my ecological straw with slices of lemon and chunks of ice. But really! It's not very decadent is it? A Bollinger perhaps, but not a glass of tonic water. Indeed today they brought me two by mistake but made us take the second one as a freebie - as the lovely lady said - 'it's only a tonic water!'.
I do like it though. I like the bitterness of it - it's more refreshing than an ordinary soft drink such as lemonade. Yes I did know it has sugar in it but I have things like this so rarely I tell myself it doesn't matter. And I honestly don't think it does. When we are in France and having a drink in a café it's my drink of choice. In France they call it 'un Schweppes' even if it isn't which I guess demonstrates the dominance of the Schweppes brand, although I believe that in England there are now trendier varieties. Probably here too, but I don't go to trendy bars.
But who can forget those Schweppervescence ads - the bubbles in the images and the hiss of the bubbles. So fresh, so enticing.
This is how they describe their product on their website.
"Born over 145 years ago in 1870, Schweppes Indian Tonic Water is created using carefully selected lemons and oranges, which are gently peeled, steeped and cold pressed to release their oils. These oils are then combined with quinine derived from the bark of the cinchona tree from tropical plantations, creating a tonic water that’s second to none."
'Indian, carefully selected, gently peeled, cold pressed,' All carefully chosen ... And Schweppes still hold their own. However, I did see a taste test of seven different varieties in which Schweppes came out at the bottom. Top was Capi - which I have never heard of, but, surprise, surprise - equal second was Coles home brand!
But yes they artfully call it Indian tonic water, recalling it's old British colonial associations. A sort of upper class thing.
I'm sure you all know the history but just in case not - quinine which gives tonic water its bitter taste comes from the bark of the cinchona tree which is a native of South America. The story goes, I think that a Spanish lady went down with malaria (brought to South America by the Spanish), and was cured with this bark and so it was brought back to Europe and eventually in British colonial days it was planted in India, where malaria was a frequent killer. And indeed in those times quinine was the only known defence against malaria. But we now know that you mustn't have too much quinine because if has rather deleterious side effects. Dangerous even - so don't believe that it will cure leg cramps and restless legs.
And:
"Quinine powder is so bitter that British officials stationed in early 19th century India and other tropical posts mixed the powder with soda and sugar, and tonic water was created." Wikipedia
The first commercial tonic water was produced in 1858. The gin was added as a further distraction from the taste of quinine. Nowadays the amount of quinine in the drink is very small - indeed I have read somewhere that there is none at all. And in fact some of the criticisms of some of the tonic waters that I saw were that the bitter taste hid the taste of the gin.
And here is a weird fact that I found:
"The quinine in tonic water will fluoresce under ultraviolet light"
And I did see a recipe for a cupcake that somehow used the tonic water to make the icing fluoresce.
Obviously tonic water is a mixer for drinks and for cocktails but yes you can cook with it too - mostly for various desserts I have to confess and not very many. Indeed I really only found this small collection on the BBC website, the best of which was a gin and tonic granita:
And n I saw it suggested that you could use it when you are using citrus flavours.
But apparently the trendiest thing with tonic water - well in America anyway is and espresso tonic.
"It’s as simple as an espresso poured into a glass with tonic water and ice. The result is not only tasty — citrussy, crisp, and refreshing — but also beautiful, as the espresso sinks into the tonic water."
It doesn't sound quite right to me, although we are talking about iced coffee not hot coffee. Now that definitely wouldn't work.
