Stop Using Crappy Tonic Water and Make a Legit G&T with Bradley’s Kina Tonic

By Drew Prindle Published December 30, 2019

We hate to break it to you, but that tonic water you’re mixing with your gin is complete and utter garbage. The stuff you buy at your local grocery store (and the stuff that bartenders squirt into your drink with a plastic gun) is a bastardized version of an age old recipe. Back in the good old days, tonic water was typically a complex infusion of cinchona bark, cane sugar, and various botanicals. Today, it’s a watered-down mixture of powdered quinine, high fructose corn syrup, and carbonated soda.

For a long time, you couldn’t actually buy legit tonic — but it’s making a comeback. Following in the footsteps of Jack Rudy, artisanal tonic makers have started popping up all over the country, and they’re collectively working to bring good, traditional tonic water back from the dead.

Recommended Videos

Bradley’s Kina Tonic is the Pacific Northwest’s contribution to this effort. It’s hand crafted in Seattle with whole spices, real citrus oil, and exclusively imported Peruvian cinchona bark. You won’t find any extracts or artificial flavors here — this stuff is the real deal.

These raw ingredients give it a much more complex and layered flavor profile than the tonics you’ve probably become accustomed to. The Peruvian cinchona bark lends a very warm and earthy bitterness and rounds out the subtle sweetness and acidity of the mixture. It’s also made with real cold-pressed orange oil (no extracts!), which gives the mixture a light, citrusy finish.

And the best part? Bottles go for about 10 bucks a pop. That’s probably a bit more expensive than the $1.79 bottles of Schweppes you can get at Safeway, but Bradley’s bottles go a long way. The tonic is designed as a concentrate, so you’re supposed to mix it with carbonated water to stretch it out. One 8oz bottle is good for about ten G&T’s.

Find out more here.

Drew is our resident tech nerd. He’s spent most of his life trying to be James Bond, so naturally he’s developed an…

Food & Drink

Take your Margarita up a notch with beautiful garnishes, like this bar does

Visual appeal is as important as flavor in creating a great drink

The Gilded Iguana Surf Hotel Margarita

It's Margarita season, and that means you'll be seeing Margarita recipes which incorporate fruits, infused tequilas, and even alternative spirits like mezcal. But if you'd prefer to keep your Margaritas more on the classic side, then there are still changes you can make to fancy them up.

One option is to keep the changes minimal, such as switching out the usual lime juice for lemon juice. That adds a tart, sharp note to the drink, and lemon is a natural partner for tequila. You should also feel free to play with the proportions of tequila, triple sec, and citrus juice to find your own preference, as well as adding a sweetner like simple syrup if required. One thing to remember is that the freshness of your citrus will make a big difference to its flavor, so fresher citrus juice may not require any additional sweetner at all, while if you're using older lemons or limes you might need to help them out with a little additional sugar.

Food & Drink

Pronghorn launched a bourbon matured in Madagascar vanilla extract-soaked cognac casks

Pronghorn's new bourbon is aged in a very unique barrel

Pronghorn

You've likely had your fair share of unique expressions if you're a whiskey drinker. We're talking about whiskeys elevated by maturing or finishing in unique barrels. And very few of those whiskeys are as unique as Pronghorn's newest expression.
Edmond's Honor

This whiskey was made to pay homage to the sometimes overlooked Edmond Albius, the Malagasy botanist and vanilla cultivation pioneer of the 1800s. It's an ultra-premium bourbon that's matured in vanilla extract-soaked cognac casks.

Food & Drink

The most unexpected drink I’ve seen this year is the Gin & Cabernet Sour

It's like a New York Sour. But with gin?

Cab Sour

As someone who is interested in cocktails, after a while you tend to assume that trends and recipes are predictable. You take a classic drink, then add an ingredient, or infuse something into the spirit, or swap out the base. That's a whole world of fun and flavor to explore, but it's rare that you'll truly be surprised by a recipe.

That's why I had to take a moment to consider a new recipe which I saw for this first time this week, which involves a combination I have never in my life imagined: gin and red wine. The Gin & Cabernet Sour, from wine brand WSJ Wine, pairs up the juniper, bitter notes of gin with the rich, heavy flavors of Cabernet Sauvignon, balanced with Cointreau, simple syrup, and lemon juice.