How to Make Tonic Water
Why spend money on store-bought tonic water when you can have fun at home doing it yourself for a fraction of the cost?
Up next in How to Make Nonalcoholic Drink Recipes (17 videos)
Being a teetotaler has never been tastier.
You Will Need
- 4 c. water
- 3 tbsp. cinchona
- 6 tbsp. citric acid
- 3 limes
- 3 stalks of chopped lemongrass
- 3 c. sugar
- A bottle or container
- Soda water
- Large saucepan
- Mixing spoon
- Strainer
- Coffee filter
- Allspice berries (optional)
- Salt (optional)
- Coriander (optional)
- Orange peel (optional)
- Bitters (optional)
- Lemons or limes (optional)
Steps
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Step 1
Combine ingredients
Put all of the ingredients except the sugar in the saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil.
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Step 2
Simmer
Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer for 20 minutes.
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Spice to your taste with allspice berries, salt, coriander, orange peel, bitters, and lemons or limes.
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Step 3
Strain
Remove the mixture from the heat and strain out all the solids with a fine strainer.
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Step 4
Repeat straining
Strain the mixture again, this time through a coffee filter.
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Step 5
Add sugar
Put the strained mixture back into the pan, bring it to a simmer, and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
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Step 6
Refrigerate
Pour the syrup into a bottle or container that can be tightly sealed and refrigerate.
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Step 7
Add syrup and serve
Add syrup to soda water to taste. Serve over ice, or use in cocktails.
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Cinchona bark contains quinine, which for centuries was the most common anti-malarial remedy in the world.
