Tonic Water

[vovo]

Bit of a long shot, but any chance someone has found a supplier of cinchona? Or affordable quinine syrup?

 

[SimonMatthee]

Hi All,

A public service announcement: I was very excited to receive my order from the States this morning of Cinchona Powder! I ordered it from a website called Herbal Advantage, and it arrived without a hitch, it was fully labelled as Cinchona Powder on the customs declaration, so nothing dodgy.

Order here: http://www.herbaladvantage.com/showsearchproduct.cfm?CategoryID=2&ProductSKU=11-5650P

Next step will be to make some Tonic!

Simon

 

[greenplastic]

Hi all

I am looking at getting some cinchona bark powder from the above source, however, the shipping rate they offer is the same if I buy 1/4lb or 1lb. Would anyone like to split a pound with me? Gets you just over 200g of powder which is enough to make 20 batches of tonic water according to the most popular recipes. Cost would be $26 including shipping to where ever you are in Australia.

Let me know!

 

[Tracyb]

Simon,

I would be interested in getting some cinchona bark and would be happy to split a shipment with you.

Tracy

 

[scon]

Colour me interested.

 

[westpege]

Hello

We were wanting to make Tonic Water and as per alot of the posts found the Cinchona Bark sourcing the major issue. While Newton's Pharmacy could supply we decided to keep looking largely due to overall cost once we included the shipping and handling charge.

We ended up finding The Hierophant in Canberra (www.hierophant.com.au) who are a natural medicine dispensary. They advertise Cinchona tea and essence on their website but when contacted said they had Cinchona in powdered form. We have ordered some and will report on how we go.

 

[westpege]

We received out 100gm cinchona bark powder from The Hierophant. It cost about $16 for 100gm inclusive of postage.

We have brewed up our first batch of tonic syrup and are pleased with the result. Looking forward to some warm evenings to enjoy a G&T now.

 

[benno1973]

That's a great price! Can't seems to get through to their website however...

Seems like it's down for everyone

 

[westpege]

The Hierophant does have a Facebook page with contact details We contacted them directly (email and phone) as they did not list the cinchona powder on their online store.

I also noticed I got the URL wrong, as I forgot " the" so should be www.thehierophant.com.au though as stated the site is down.

 

[benno1973]

Thanks for that. I have a little from my last order, but I'll contact them via Facebook to see if they can send me some. Cheers! :chug:

 

[Weizguy]

FWIW, MHB sells a bottle of concentrate to make a keg full of Tonic water.

Link will not attach, as my icons are greyed out. http://www.ubrew.com.au/web/showproduct.asp?prodid=886

May or may not be useful to you.

 

[benno1973]

Thanks Les, I remember seeing this ages ago but have forgotten about it since. Anyone tried this? Given the price, it's a pretty good option. Can't quite make out the ingredients on the bottle - would like to know what goes in it.

BTW - options may be greyed out if you have the 'switch' selected on the top left when replying. Just unselect it and options should be available again.

 

[Weizguy]

Thanks Les, I remember seeing this ages ago but have forgotten about it since. Anyone tried this? Given the price, it's a pretty good option. Can't quite make out the ingredients on the bottle - would like to know what goes in it.

BTW - options may be greyed out if you have the 'switch' selected on the top left when replying. Just unselect it and options should be available again.

Thanks. Would not have worked that out by myself, I reckon.

 

[vovo]

Hi guys, I'm definitely interested in getting some cinchona still but I have recently found a place in Aus that sells the syrup. Onlybitters, a web store in Melbourne has a few of the premium tonic syrups. Tomr I'm sure is what I was served in San Francisco and it was fantastic. I am getting a mate to bring one up for me as postage seems a bit pricey for just one bottle. Would be good to try one against a home made syrup to compare. Thanks for the update guys.

 

[of mice and gods]

Ed,

People here are saying that 1kg might be too much for them. So I think nearly 15 tons is probably too much for a home brewing forum.

Although I'm sure plenty of people would put their hands up for free samples.. just in case

Al

 

[onlytonics]

Thanks to VOVO for finding and mentioning our site. I am JD, the founder of onlybitters.com and onlytonics.com based here in Melbourne. We import and carry 12 varieties of artisan tonic syrups with two more on their way. For all your home tonic syrup makers, you should look into using some of these as a reference point for what is commercially made by small batch suppliers (nearly all from the US and one from Germany). The syrups range from the very bitter to the very sweet and everything on the spectrum and in between. One supplier (5by5) interestingly is not using cinchona bark but gentian root to bitter their tonic (to great debate in US circles if it is still a tonic syrup), but customers who have bought it, love it - so who am I to argue.

On the topic of cinchona bark, I have started discussions with AQIS to see of I can import the bark itself. I will also be bringing in the major extract used in making both bitters and tonic syrups. So keep an eye out for that. I will update the forum once I have an update on this. In the meantime, enjoy your G&T's!

 

[surly]

Hey JD, I had a quick look on your site, but couldn't find any info on dilution ratios?
How far do these tonic syrups go?

Considering the possibility of hooking up a keg of soda water, or even adding the syrup to the keg (though there are added issues of longevity/sanitation).

 

[Airgead]

Thanks to VOVO for finding and mentioning our site. I am JD, the founder of onlybitters.com and onlytonics.com based here in Melbourne. We import and carry 12 varieties of artisan tonic syrups with two more on their way.

So many tonics... so little time. I notice some of the bitters come as sample packs. Any chance of doing the same with the tonics? A set of 5 or 6 50ml bottles to see which ones we like best?

The missus has just discovered cocktails so she is busy drooling over the bitters. I'm looking at the shrubs. We are both eyeing off the ginger beer syrups...

Cheers
Dave

 

[vovo]

Hey JD, I had a quick look on your site, but couldn't find any info on dilution ratios?
How far do these tonic syrups go?

Considering the possibility of hooking up a keg of soda water, or even adding the syrup to the keg (though there are added issues of longevity/sanitation).

The dilution ratios vary, I got a bottle of bradleys and 5by5. The bradleys is supposed to be 3/4 fl. oz. to 250ml of soda, however I found this a little weak. Probably a better ratio would be 30ml of tonic to 250ml of soda (I think this would be a good reference ratio for all of them). Having said all that, I am not a huge fan of the Bradleys and have not yet tried the 5by5.

I am pretty sure Tomr is what I have tried previously and really liked, maybe the 5by5 will impress me.

 

[notung]

I just ordered a bottle of Tomr's tonic syrup and Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Spanish Bitters from onlybitters.com. It's only ever been about angostura at our house so I'm looking forward to tasting a difference.