Origins of tonic
Tonic’s distinctive bitter flavour comes from quinine, which is derived from the bark of the cinchona tree. This originates in the Peruvian Andes and has been used as a malaria cure for years. Legend has it that a South American Indian, suffering from malaria, drank water from a pool that had been “contaminated” by the cinchona tree and, remarkably, discovered that his fever was gone.