I mucked around with this and finally went back to the original Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s version. He has a new version that uses a tincture of the cinchona bark. I haven’t tried it yet, but it sounds like a good idea. I have tried it and prefer it to this recipe. Check out the new version here, but this original isn’t bad at all! I probably don’t use quite as much lemongrass. This with 209 Gin is unbelievable!
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup chopped lemongrass (roughly one large stalk)
- ¼ cup powdered cinchona bark
- zest and juice of 1 orange
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- zest and juice of 1 lime
- 1 tsp. whole allspice berries
- ¼ cup citric acid
- ¼ tsp. Kosher salt
- ¾ cup of agave syrup for each cup of liquid
- Combine ingredients, except agave, in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once mixture starts to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Strain through a fine sieve, coffee filter, cheese cloth, Pur Filter or all of these until your liquid is as clear and free of sediment as possible.
- Once you’re satisfied with the clarity of your mix, heat it back up on the stove top or microwave, and then add ¾ cup of agave syrup to each cup of your hot mix.
- Stir until combined, and store in the attractive bottle of your choice.
You now have a syrup that you can carbonate with seltzer water. Tonic water is ¾ oz. Quinine Syrup to 2 oz. soda water.
To assemble a gin and tonic, use ¾ ounce of syrup, 2 ounces of gin and 2 ounces of soda water over ice.
