by Emily Towne 
Human creativity has brought to life a dazzling array of botanical flavors and combinations. The vital role of plants in our lives has been embedded in our cultural evolution since before recorded history; the role of herbs in beverages has never been more powerful nor their ever-evolving story so intriguing. Herbal tonic syrups bring to life the brilliance of our collective botanical history, giving us a product that is at once ancient and unapologetically modern. Many herb-based beverages that began as curatives endured and evolved over the centuries into some of the contemporary beverages we know today, alcoholic and otherwise. Tonic syrups are part of this heritage.
Historical Origins of Tonic Water
First, the cinchona bark. When the bitter bark of the Peruvian cinchona tree, chewed by indigenous peoples to cure fevers, was shared with Europeans in the 1600s, a long and circuitous journey that would endure for centuries had begun. Cinchona is genus of flowering evergreen shrubs and trees native to tropical America, several members of which are used for medicine. Chewing its bitter bark extracted quinine, an alkaloid that treats malaria. Quinine became the go-to malaria medicine around the world and is still used today. It is listed by the World Health Organization as an essential and safe medicine. Synthetic quinine was developed during WWII.
In the 1800s British officials stationed in Colonial India, where malaria was endemic, began to add soda water and sugar to their doses of bitter cinchona bark powder. This magic trick gave us tonic water. To further increase palatability, adding readily available gin and lime was the obvious next step, creating the iconic gin and tonic still enjoyed around the world today.
While few of us have had cause to use quinine as a curative, most of us have enjoyed a gin and tonic with its quintessential bitter flavor. Commercial tonic waters contain synthetic quinine, though a few companies use the real thing. Most commercial tonic waters also contain high fructose corn syrup or other synthetic sweeteners, citric acid, sodium benzoate, and natural flavors. These modern ingredients make for a shelf-stable mass-produced product, but they are also largely derived from genetically modified corn, which also contains pesticide and herbicide residues. For these reasons, many have found the impetus to seek out more authenticity.
Tonic Syrups and Creative Cocktails
The rejection of factory-made, mass-produced products combined with a penchant for handcrafted goodness led to do-it-yourself tonic waters. The unending search for novel flavor experiences fueled the addition of herbs and exotic botanicals into the mix, thus creating beautiful and delicious tonic syrups, the next step of this enduring botanical journey. Readily available ingredients from local and online sources have opened up a world of flavor options to craft bars, distilleries, do-it-yourselfers, and farm-to-table restaurants, which are producing their own signature herbal tonic syrups. Herbs, berries, barks, seeds, flowers, grasses, and spices have never been more creatively employed. Far from their roots as a bitter medicinal, these sweet, nuanced syrups are a delight to the most sophisticated palate. They can be customized to individual preferences with truly endless possibilities. Combined with club soda or another sparkling water of choice, we’ve entered a new era of gin and tonics, craft cocktails, and creative nonalcoholic beverages.
Various brands of tonic syrups are available commercially, but why not seize the opportunity to create your own unique elixir? Mix up a batch and enlist a friend to help you taste-test it. Nothing ensures quality quite like doing it yourself.
Learning to make your own tonic syrups is a satisfying way to expand your herbal repertoire and fuel your creative urges. Once you have established the basic concepts of formulation and technique, you are on your way to creating your very own signature recipe. Through trial and error, I created the recipe on page 123, which has a nuanced flavor profile as well as a delightful color. Store-bought tonic syrups are a luxury item to purchase, as are many of the ingredients to make your own. However, most items on this ingredient list go a long way and allow you to make multiple batches once you’ve made the investment. I enjoy using home-grown herbs, which cuts down on what I need to purchase.
Creative cocktails and nonalcoholic beverages are both easily concocted using this tonic syrup. In keeping with the spirit of tonic’s origins, I use gin as my spirit of choice for this article. Many gins are very juniper-forward in flavor, but there are other options as well. Feel free to use your favorite and experiment. To accompany the tonic syrup recipe here, I prefer an overtly floral gin (imagine drinking a flower), such as gins by Uncle Val’s. Other good options include gins from Pinckney Bend, which are complex and citrus-rich, and Prairie Organic Spirits, which are certified organic and have more subtle flavors with notes of melon and pear. These smaller-batch gins support American farmers and use clean ingredients.
Herbal tonic syrups make great gifts! Bottle them in a pretty bottle, add your own creative label, and share with friends. Maybe they will thank you with a creative cocktail.
The following tonic syrup recipe contains prominent citrus notes, so I generally opt for herbs and flowers for a garnish rather than the traditional slice of lime. Any edible flower, herb, or spice may be added as a garnish. My favorite is a sweetly aromatic nasturtium flower floating serenely on the surface of my orange-hued cocktail. It is pleasure for the eye, nose, and palate. Also delightful are sprigs of lavender, rosemary, and leaves from the herb garden, such as mint, basil, or stevia, slapped in your open palm to release their essential oils before placing them on the surface of the cocktail. Juniper berries, peppercorns, or whole cloves add aromatic pungency, while rose petals and cucumber slices introduce floral delicacy. The idea is to complement the botanical tones of the particular gin with a well-chosen garnish.
Choosing Quality Ingredients
Tonic syrups are comprised of three basic components: cinchona bark, herbs and botanicals, and sweetener. The first two components are combined together in one step; the sweetener is added later to that mixture.
In order to create the highest quality product, you must source top-notch ingredients. When possible, I opted for organic ingredients, sometimes from my own garden. This is especially important when choosing citrus in order to avoid pesticide residue and wax coatings. Only the zest of the citrus is used; I juiced the remaining citrus for later use so as not to waste its goodness.
All of the recipes in my research included citric acid as an ingredient. Citric acid comes as a white powder resembling sugar and is often added to products as a preservative or flavor enhancer. I sourced a version that was not genetically modified, readily available online, and experimented with amounts. I found that less is better. Too much citric acid resulted in an extremely sharp, overtly citrus product that masked the more delicate flavors of the botanical ingredients. I also tried a batch with no citric acid but ruled it out as too bland.
What differentiates tonic syrup from simple syrup or other flavored syrups is the inclusion of cinchona bark, which provides quinine’s essential bitterness. This slight bitter flavor is what makes tonic water so appealing and what pairs so well with spirits. Cinchona bark is available from a number of online sources and comes in cut pieces, as a powder, or as an extract. Powders have more surface area and therefore less can be used, but they are also more difficult to strain out of the final product. I used the cut bark, which is chunky and easier to strain. I used Cinchona officinalis, which is the most readily available variety and lends a beautiful red-orange tint to the finished product. I strained the final product through a sieve lined with butter muslin. Coffee filters may also be used.
For the sweetener component, I used unbleached, minimally processed (without bone char) granular sugar, which lends a slight tint to the syrup. Any sugar of preference may be used. Some recipes call for agave syrup, but I chose not to use it in order to keep my tonic syrup less processed. I experimented with a basic simple syrup, which is a one-to-one ratio of sugar to water, but felt that it was not quite as sweet as I would like it to be in the finished cocktail. I ended up with a richer sugar syrup that more fully enhanced the flavors of the herbs and botanicals.
Making a Batch in Your Home Kitchen
There are quite a few ingredients in this recipe that were fun to source and experiment with. If you are not able to find them locally, try online. Some ingredients can be substituted, or omitted, but the final results will not be the same. The cinchona bark is essential as it provides the bitterness of quinine and is what makes it tonic syrup. Several ingredients came from my own herb garden and my personal cache of dried flowers, which I preserve all season long. Make sure to allow plenty of time to make the recipe. I find that it helps to first assemble and measure all the ingredients and zest the citrus before mixing everything together. Be prepared to fall in love with the intoxicating aroma that will fill your kitchen!
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
¼ teaspoon rosewater
1 dried whole peony flower
5 dried fragrant whole roses
3½ cups water
⅓ cup cinchona bark
⅓ cup chopped lemongrass (fresh or dried—I used dried)
Zest of 2 oranges
Zest of 3 lemons
Zest of 3 limes
4 whole allspice berries
4 whole cardamom pods, slightly crushed
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
1 tablespoon dried hibiscus flowers
5 juniper berries
¼ teaspoon grains of paradise
¾ teaspoon orris root
1 tablespoon citric acid
¼ teaspoon salt
Set aside the cinnamon stick, rosewater, peony, and roses. Add the rest of the ingredients to a medium cooking pot. Cover the pot with the lid slightly askew to capture steam. Bring the pot to a boil over a medium to high heat, stirring well to mix all ingredients. Maintain a medium boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and being careful to not scorch ingredients. Reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for 15 more minutes with lid askew, stirring occasionally. Add the cinnamon stick, rosewater, peony, and roses and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir well. Allow it to steep in the covered pan for another 30 minutes, up to 60. Strain mixture through a sieve lined with butter muslin or a coffee filter. Allow it to sit for 20 minutes to completely drain. Restrain the liquid through another clean filter if necessary. Pour it into clean glass jar.
Sugar Syrup
Boil together 3 cups sugar with 2½ cups water until sugar is dissolved (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and pour into a separate glass jar.
In a clean jar, combine 2 parts herbal tonic syrup with 1 part sugar syrup. Taste and adjust to your preference. Herbal tonic syrup may be stored in a glass jar or other fancy bottle of your choice. Keep refrigerated. This syrup will keep in the fridge up to 2 weeks.
Gin and Herbal Tonic Syrup Cocktail
To a tall, chilled glass with ice, add 1 shot gin and 1 shot tonic syrup, and then top off with club soda. Adjust amounts of each ingredient to individual preference. Garnish with flower or herb of your choice. Sip away!
Nonalcoholic Tonic Syrup Beverage
Add 1–2 shots herbal tonic syrup to club soda or any sparkling water of your choice. Flavored sparkling waters, such as lemon or lime and coconut, are a nice choice. Garnish and enjoy!