Drinking The World

I always liked Gin and Schweppes Bitter Lemon on hot days growing up. The tart and slightly bitter mixer really kept you cool and refreshed. Here is a recipe I came up with for my own version. It's very similar, but even more refreshing.

1 liter H2O
Juice and zest of three limes
Juice and zest of two lemons
1/2 lime rind
1/2 lemon rind
8 gm fresh ginger root
4 gm crushed (not powdered) Cinchona bark
20 gm citric acid
1 gm salt
400 gm sugar (apx 2 cups)

Bring all ingredients except sugar to a boil and simmer 30 minutes. Carefully filter through a coffeee filter while hot. Should give apx 1/2 liter liquid. Put in jar and add sugar. Shake until dissolved. use syrup with seltzer water to taste. Add gin.

This is the simplest recipe, and without the extra spice it is very similar to commercial tonic, but with more oomph and unique flavor. I like this one best when you want the character of the gin to shine through.

32 oz H2O
8 whole, crushed, Key Limes weighing 145 grams, 5 oz (You can use the juice and zest of of two regular limes, but don't include the whole lime like you would with the Key Limes.)
1/4 cup / 50 grams Citric Acid (sometimes called Sour salt)
1/2 tsp / 4 grams kosher Salt
1/4 cup / 22 grams chopped Cinchona Bark (Quinine bark)

2 cups cane sugar

I put all the ingredients except the sugar in a sauce pan and brought it to boil, then simmered 40 minutes. I filtered the liquid hot through double coffee filters. This made apx 16 oz liquid. I then added cane sugar to the hot liquid in jar, which topped off to just under 32 oz. I shook it to melt the sugar.

Use at the same strength as the previous recipes, or to taste.