Tonic Water

[Amphoran]

Use Quinine Sulfate (not HCl). If you have a friendly doctor, have him write you a prescription for 325 mg capsules (not tablets). If not, you can order USP quinine sulfate on the web from a variety of places as a chemical. Aquarium stores often stock it as a fish medicine. Get USP in a sealed original manufacturer's bottle, and you'll be fine.

4 gallons tonic water (for a 5-gallon corny keg):

3 gallons plus 3 quarts water
1 gram quinine sulfate (or contents of 3 325 mg capsules, discard the gelatin capsule itself)
juice of 12 lemons (or 3 cups bottled lemon juice)
1.4 pounds sugar

Mix directly in the Cornelius keg:
Add lemon juice to water and stir
Add quinine and stir thoroughly
Add sugar and stir thoroughly
Close keg and refrigerate until chilled.
Carbonate to 60=90 psi:
Shake until you arms are numb.
Rest
Repeat
Keep very cold, and back off the pressure when dispensing.

This stuff will not spoil, so you can also just keep it in a keg or carboy in the refrigerator, and fill a seltzer bottle with it and charge for a liter at a time.

Enjoy!
Mike

[Amphoran]

And if you want to be dangerously decadent, make three gallons of tonic water, add a gallon of gin and carbonate that. G&T on tap!

[Drunk_J]

Thanks! Wow, that is a lot of lemon in it.....tonic lemonade..hehehe! Gotta make it taste better than the store bought stuff. And FYI for anyone who suffers from leg cramps....the stuff works great for that.

-=Jasen=-

[Amphoran]

The original recipe that I received from a friend called for less lemon and sugar, but when I brought it out at parties, people complained that it was "thin". Several experiments lead to the current recipe. The acidity of the lemon is significantly masked by the bitterness of the quinine.
(FYI if you want to experiment, the original recipe used 8 lemons (1 pint) and 3/4 pound of sugar.)
If you like it lip-smackingly bitter, you can put in an extra gram of quinine, which will bring you very close to the solubility limit.

[Sanny]

I used to love bitter lemon when I was a kid. Still do, now I think of it. lol. Guess that's just tonic with lots of lemon in it, huh?

[Amphoran]

I think so.
When I was in Libya a couple of years ago, one of the most popular soft drinks was "bitter soda" which I'd never seen before, but quickly came to love. I've never been able to find it here, though it was a Coca Cola product!

[Drunk_J]

I think so.
When I was in Libya a couple of years ago, one of the most popular soft drinks was "bitter soda" which I'd never seen before, but quickly came to love. I've never been able to find it here, though it was a Coca Cola product!

Very well could have been a Coca Cola product. They make many products only sold in overseas markets.....and I mean some very strange products too. Only place you can sample them that I know of, (in the US) is the Coca Cola museum's sample room. I know there is one in Atlanta and it seems like I remember one in Las Vegas too. It is interesting what beverages are popular in other cultures.

-=Jasen=-

[Saucier]

At the risk of sounding un-edumacated, where do you get the lil keg, and how do you go about carbonating it ?

[Amphoran]

almost any homebrew supplies store (and there are many online, too) will have stock of 3 and 5 gallon soda kegs, along with carbon dioxide cylinders, regulators, etc.
You simply fill the keg, attach the hose from the CO2 cylinder, and shake!
There are also 4 liter "mini-keg" systems available.
Here's a link to one good source:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/HOME_KEG ... MS_C44.cfm

[Sanny]

If one charges it in seltzer bottle for liter (or whatever) at a time, would one still have to use CO2 bottle on the keg? Not familiar with the carbonating process. Just wondering how to try this and still have room in the frigerator for food!

[Firemonkey]

I think the CO2 on the mini-kegs provides pressurization, so the liquid will dispense.

Wouldn't a seltzer bottle be a smaller volume replacement for the keg operation?

[Amphoran]

Yes.
The original recipe I started from was to make up a concentrate that you could dilute a bit at a time into 1 liter seltzer bottles. I'll post that when I get home and can get at it.

The reason to go to a keg or mini-keg is that those are much cheaper options over time. More upfront expense, but you don't pay for those expensive CO2 cartridges all the time. If you only go through a few liters a summer, though, the seltzer bottle would make sense.

[Drunk_J]

Another trick if you don't have room for the 3-5gal soda kegs is to take 2 liter soda bottles and fit with a SS tire valve. Then hook up a tire valve chuck to your CO2 tank hose. Actually I think they sell a better alternative now, but they did not back when I made mine. Works quite well and cheap provided you have a CO2 tank.

-=Jasen=-

[Amphoran]

Right. Beermaking supply places sell that, its called the carbonator.
And, as promised, here's the version of the recipe for seltzer bottles:

Bitter Enough Tonic Water (1 liter)
Stock Solution
Dissolve the 325 mg (contents of one standard capsule) of quinine sulfate into 1 liter of filtered water. If the quinine will not dissolve completely, its OK; capsules or bulk powder are much better than tablets because the talc in the tabs is not good for the clarity or flavor of the drinks.
Tonic Water
Mix 5 Oz (140 ml) of stock solution, 5 tsp (25 ml) of sugar, and juice of ½ lemon.
Put mixture in bottle and fill to 1 liter with cold filtered water.
Carbonate.