the.com/tonic
named for curing malaria, now mostly here to make gin behave.
means A bracing liquid that restores or invigorates — whether a medicinal pick-me-up, the fizzy quinine water in your G&T, or anything that does you good.
from From Greek 'tonikos,' meaning 'of or for stretching,' from 'tonos,' a tightening or tension — the same root that gives us 'tone.' The idea was medical: a tonic tightens up a slack constitution, restoring proper muscular and bodily 'tone.' The 'tonic water' sense came later, when quinine — genuinely effective against malaria — was dissolved in carbonated, sweetened water to make the bitter stuff drinkable, especially for colonial Britons in malarial climes. The gin, the legend goes, was added to make the medicine pleasant; nowadays the proportions have rather reversed.
- glows blue
- Quinine fluoresces eerily under ultraviolet light
- war ration
- British colonials drank it to fight malaria
- bitter dose
- Original versions had far more quinine, undrinkable today
- music too
- In harmony, the tonic is home base
- gin partner
- The pairing was medicine before it was cocktail
fever tree tonic water — british premium tonic brand founded in 2010, now sold in over 150 countries
schweppes tonic water — iconic indian tonic created in 1783, originally contained quinine for malaria prevention in india
gin and tonic — drink combination that originated in india during british colonial rule as a medicinal remedy