As busy host/hostess, anytime you can offer a fun, engaging, self-serve cocktail bar, expect your guests to rave about your entertaining prowess!  A tonic bar is a simple way to allow your guests open access to create their own drinks while you get to enjoy your party too.  Its versatility works great for casual outdoor gatherings and equally well for holiday festivities.

Before we address the blue print for a great libation station, let’s look at the recent transformation of the venerable Gin and Tonic.  About ten years ago, the “Gin Tonic” became the rage in Spain.  Bars developed their own, proprietary Tonic Waters with which they prepared beautiful cocktails in over-sized, stemmed wine glasses, filled with colorful fresh citrus and herbs.  Drinking establishments take pride in featuring their version of the “Gin Tonic.”

The most important ingredient in gin, and the one necessarily present in all gins, is juniper. Beyond that, it’s the Wild West, because there is no minimum amount of juniper required for a spirit to be labeled ‘gin.’  A single juniper berry in a vat of spirit qualifies as ‘gin.’

I had an opportunity to discuss Gin and Tonics with Jason Kosmas, Co-founder of The 86 Company, (Fords Gin among others), Co-founder of Employees Only and Co-author of Speak Easy. According to Jason, just about any premium brand of gin can be used for Gin and Tonics.  Jason prefers that juniper be an actual flavor present in gin, followed by citrus and various herbs.  When determining what will go best with any particular gin, Jason encourages us to “read the back label” and see what is in the gin.  With Fords Gin, he suggests creating a cocktail with the addition of grapefruit, coriander, lemon, and jasmine.

When it comes to tonic water, there are several good premium brands readily available.  Jason mentioned Fever Tree, East Imperial and Q Tonic.  He looks for natural ingredients and sugars.  The flavor should be quinine first and dry rather than sweet.

For garnishes, Jason looks to rosemary for “woodsy,” and he likes grapefruit, dries spices, star anise, aromatic berries such as strawberry, cucumber and/or fresh lavender.  For sweeteners, he recommends agave, dried flowers and even herbal tea blends.

Of course, as Jason says: “It can’t be a Gin Tonic without the big, stemmed wine glass!”

The Tonic Bar

To engage your guests with making their own Gin Tonics, set your Tonic Bar up in an easily accessible area where multiple people can be actively concocting.  Your actual tonic bar can be as minimalist or as expansive as you like.  You can offer only a single gin, vodka or rum, or multiple choices of each.  We include little tasting cups so that our guests can sample the spirits before selecting one.  (The plastic tasting cups were one lifetime supply purchase from Costco – approximately a thousand for $10!)

Now for the tonic water.  We like to offer at least one house made tonic syrup.  A small amount of tonic syrup is added to carbonated water in the drink to make tonic water, (our recipes are here).  These syrups are designed for a specific spirit and make wonderful cocktails.  However, we have found that while our guests like it when we make one these for them, when left on their own, they will usually opt for bottled tonic water.   We continue to offer the tonic syrup, but we always include one premium brand of tonic water – usually Fever Tree.  We also use the small bottles so that there is no measuring required.

However many choices of spirit you offer, don’t skimp on the garnishes.  Arrange bunches of fresh herbs in single old fashioned glasses, with small bowls of sliced citrus and berries.  If some of your herbs are less than attractive, pinch off the leaves and present them in small bowels as well.  Release your imagination with the variety of flavors, colors and textures of garnishes and the containers in which you offer them.  The more inviting the presentation, the more your guests will be encouraged to experiment and enjoy their mixology talents. Here are some suggestions:

 

As noted above, set your Tonic Bar up in an easily accessible location.  We use a round table.  Set out your bottles of spirits, a few bottles of tonic water along with a bottle opener, and garnishes.  You might want to set your glassware and ice bucket on a separate counter.  This will minimize the chance that they get knocked over while someone is reaching for ingredients.  We always include a written recipe with suggestions of garnishes for each spirit.  This will eliminate any anxiety your guests may have over not knowing what to make.  You want to keep it simple and fun.

To get things started, make up a Gin Tonic so everyone can see how it’s done.  Those guests can then show any late comers when they arrive.  You will then only need to refresh any garnishes, tonic water bottles and ice.

 

Recipe for Gin, Rum or Vodka Tonics

• 2 oz Spirit – either Gin, Rum or Vodka
• 6 oz. Tonic Water (1 1/2 oz Tonic Syrup and 4 1/2 oz. Carbonated Water)
• Optional dash of simple syrup for gin or vodka/demerara simple syrup for rum
• Garnish – see below

 Instructions:

1. Add ice cubes to a large, stemmed wine glass
2. Add garnishes except for any citrus peels for expressing
3. Add your Spirit of choice
4. Slowly add the Tonic Water (or Tonic Syrup followed by the carbonated water).
5. Express any citrus peels and serve

Suggested Garnishes:

 

We have found that our guests enjoy the opportunity to experiment with the Tonic Bar.  By offering multiple choices of gin, vodka and rum along with a myriad of garnishes, you enable your guests to explore a range of Gin Tonics.  Our guests tend to lower the amount of spirit in each drink thus allowing themselves to try multiple variations.  If some of your guests may be a little more stayed or if you just wish to expand the offerings, set out a few old fashioned glasses so someone can make a standard Gin or Vodka and Tonic.  Throw in a bottle of vermouth and martini glasses and your guests can head down that road.  As always, we offer self serve wine and beer along with non-alcohol options.

Cheers!

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Making tonic water at home and in bars became a widespread fashion in the early 2000’s. An internet search for ‘DIY tonic water’ will result in a number of recipes. Jeffrey Morgenthaler posted a recipe in 2008, (found here), which became one of the most popular. Since then, he has published a newer version in his book, The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique. I like his new version, which can be found on line here, because he separates the aromatics from the quinine. This lends itself to easy modification. My recipe for tonic syrup for use with gin differs only slightly from his.

What has become apparent over the last decade is that

Making tonic water at home is dangerous!

Tonic water is primarily carbonated water and quinine. Quinine is most famous for treating the symptoms of malaria. Mixing gin and quinine dates to the British in various malaria prone climes where soldiers used gin to make the bitter quinine more palatable. In those days, quinine was extracted from cinchona bark in a process not unlike making tea. Since World War II, quinine has been manufactured as a white powder formed into pills. You can purchase quinine pills over the internet and dissolve them to use in tonic water. This is a bad idea. It would be very easy to poison yourself and guests with too much quinine. The recipes noted above and the ones you will find on the internet will use cinchona bark as the British did.  The problem is that you can’t know how much quinine is extracted from the cinchona bark.  Many people have developed cinchonism, the symptoms of quinine poisoning, from drinking DIY tonic water.  These symptoms include flushed and sweaty skin, ringing in the ears, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, rash, high pitched hearing loss and dizziness.  Larger doses can result in deafness, blindness, somnolence, shock, cardiac arrhythmias and death.  All of these symptoms will go away when the quinine is metabolized.  Well, except the death part.

These DIY tonic waters can be delicious. The problem is the quinine.  So why not leave out the cinchona bark and, thus, the quinine.  Make the syrup but, instead of adding carbonated water, add commercial tonic water!

I had an opportunity to discuss Gin and Tonics with Jason Kosmas, Co-founder of The 86 Company, (Ford’s Gin among others), Co-founder of Employees Only and Co-author of Speak Easy. His take on tonic syrups is to include citrus, coriander and herbs – even herbal tea. Keep in mind that the base spirit you choose will lend itself to various flavors. As Jason pointed out – read the back label for flavor ideas. For syrup used in Rum and Tonics, he would add lime, pineapple, cinnamon and vanilla. (The rest of the interview centered on Gin Tonics and will be included in a future post)

These days, you are not limited to buying tonic water in 1 liter bottles. There are a number of premium tonic waters available such as Fever Tree and Q Tonic. The primary idea of making your own tonic syrup is to customize it for various drinks. These recipes will take about 15 minutes of active and 45 minutes of inactive time.

The only equipment you will need that is slightly out of the ordinary is a digital food or postage scale. Only the precise weight of ingredients ensures that your syrup will be consistent from one batch to the next.

For the Quinine Tincture:

We substitute Luxardo Bianco Bitters

For the aromatic syrup for gin or vodka and tonics:

 

• 20 gr. citric acid
• 10 gr. whole gentian root
• 1 gr. coriander
• 1 gr. Ceylon soft-stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces
• 30 gr. lemon peel
• 30 gr. grapefruit peel
• 400 gr. sugar
• 500 ml. water
• 2 – 3 to 4 inch sprigs of fresh lavender (optional)
• 1 1/2 oz Luxardo Bianco Bitters

1. Combine all of the ingredients, except the lavender and bitters, in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
3. Remove from the heat, add the fresh lavender and allow to cool.
4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
5. Add the Luxardo Bianco Bitters and store, refrigerated, in a seal-able bottle or jar. It will keep 3-4 weeks before it turns cloudy.

For the aromatic syrup for rum and tonics:

 

• 20 gr. citric acid
• 10 gr. whole gentian root
• 1 gr. Star Anise
• 2 gr. Ceylon soft-stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces
• 3 Kaffir Lime leaves (Optional – available at Asian Markets)
• 10 gr. lemon peel
• 50 gr. Lime peel
• 400 gr. Turbinado sugar
• 500 ml. water
• 1 1/2 oz Luxardo Bianco Bitters

 

1. Combine all of the ingredients, except the bitters, in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
5. Add the Luxardo Bianco Bitters and store, refrigerated, in a seal-able bottle or jar. It will keep 3-4 weeks before it turns cloudy.

Gin, Rum or Vodka Tonics

• 2 oz Spirit – either Gin, Rum or Vodka
• 2 oz. Tonic Syrup
• 6 oz. Tonic Water
• Optional dash of simple syrup for gin or vodka/demerara simple syrup for rum
• Garnish – see below

Method #1

1. Add large ice cubes to a large, stemmed wine glass
2. Add garnishes except for any citrus peels for expressing
3. Add your Spirit of choice
4. Slowly add the Tonic Syrup followed by the tonic water.
5. Express any citrus peels and serve

Method #2

1. Fill your large wine glass with large ice and garnish
2. Add the remaining ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir
3. Strain into your prepared glass
4. Express any citrus peels and serve

Suggested Garnishes:

You should let your imagination run with the garnishes.

G-n-Tini

Here is a cocktail that uses Tonic Syrup directly in the drink.

• 1 1/2 oz. Fords Gin
• 1/2 oz. Dolin Sweet Vermouth
• 1/2 oz. Tonic Syrup for Gin
• Grapefruit peel for garnish

1. Stir the first three ingredients in a mixing glass with ice to chill
2. Strain into a chilled coup
3. Express the grapefruit peel over the drink and float the peel

Cheers!

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