This simple drink is simply my favorite. Recently a new brand of tonic water came on the market that is worlds away from anything I have tasted since my youth. Q-Tonic™ is expensive at about $1.75 per 8 ounce bottle, but the taste and carbonation are really good. It is made from the original ingredients that used to be used when the drink gin and tonic was created. That means using bark from a tree in South America to get the quinine, and agave to provide some sweetness instead of sugar or corn syrup, and a carbonation level that is closer to that of champagne.

Well, I won’t buy Q-Tonic™ often because of the price, but now and then I will. I have researched making tonic water since I can carbonate any beverage. I got the bark in powdered form and I am experimenting with making tonic water. When I perfect the recipe I will jump up and down and cheer. There is an entry for making tonic water in the Food Nirvana Beverages section, but at this point it is under development.

Ingredients:

2 Shots (2 oz.) of Tanqueray® Gin

¼ cut fresh lime

12 oz. glass filled with ice cubes

Tonic water to fill the glass after adding the other ingredients

Directions:

Squeeze the cut lime to get some lime juice into the empty glass.

Drop the cut lime into the glass.

Fill the glass with ice cubes.

Add the gin. (A Jigger sized shot glass filled to the top is 2 ounces, or use a ¼ cup measuring cup.)

Add the tonic water to fill the glass.

Stir gently to mix contents.

Enjoy thoroughly.

Get relaxed. You will get very relaxed if you drink more than one.

Don’t drive … why ruin an otherwise perfect experience?

Cheers!

è I really like fresh lime with this drink, but fresh limes can be expensive and their freshness life in a refrigerator is limited. After a few days the uncut limes start to turn olive green in color and that is bad for appearance and for taste. What to do? There is a really simple and totally effective answer. First I buy the limes in bulk at Costco®. Sometimes, like in the late fall, I buy two large bags of limes at a time, so I don’t have to travel to Costco® very often. Then I cut each lime in half, put the halves in a small bag and vacuum seal them. Finally I put the vacuum sealed lime bags back into the bulk purchase bag and freeze all of it in the deep freeze. When I want fresh lime I thaw one small bag in the microwave oven for 30 seconds. Voila! I use this method to have both fresh limes and lemons for many uses year round. You gotta love that vacuum sealer! What convenience!