Tonic Water?

meghatronic · 27 Nov 2009 at 22:55

The mixed drink gin and tonic originated in British colonial India when the British population would mix their medicinal quinine tonic with gin to make it more palatable

I love Brits

mjt · 27 Nov 2009 at 22:58

scorza said:
Seriously mings, don't know why G&T is such a popular drink. You can't taste the gin anyway.

stop drinking like a pansy and put a healthy amount in then? :confused:

you can't taste the alcohol in any 'single' drink tbh

decmatt · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:01

Love this

So refreshing

James J · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:04

tbs said:
thats Gin.

No its not its the quinine in the tonic water

ElliorR · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:14

I do love Tonic Water, and it has to be Schweppes, but I always feel guilty if I have it minus some vodka.

meghatronic · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:19

James J said:
No its not its the quinine in the tonic water

You would need to drink, roughly, 1,500 litres for toxic effects and double that to die. That's about 20-40 bathtubs.

James J · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:21

meghatronic said:
You would need to drink, roughly, 1,500 litres for toxic effects and double that to die. That's about 20-40 bathtubs.

Im not talking about lethal levels, I'm talking about toxic levels, which are vastly less than that on the therapeutic scale

meghatronic · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:22

James J said:
Im not talking about lethal levels, I'm talking about toxic levels, which are vastly less than that on the therapeutic scale

I found three papers that refereed to >4g as being toxic (1.8g daily is standard anti-malarial dose). The FDA limit the quinine content to <85ppm so that's about 1,500 litres.

EDIT - in the UK, would be more. Around 10,000 litres.

sorn21 · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:40

Do enjoy a nice G&T myself when the opportunity occurs!

James J · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:43

meghatronic said:
I found three papers that refereed to >4g as being toxic (1.8g daily is standard anti-malarial dose). The FDA limit the quinine content to <85ppm so that's about 1,500 litres.

EDIT - in the UK, would be more. Around 10,000 litres.

You do realise I'm refering to toxicity, not amounts? Example I can't take quinine at all as im allergic to it. If I need an anti malarial I have to take a different drug.

Theres no laws on how much tonic water someone can consume per day or even buy at any one time but the FDA retracted a lot of quinine capsules from market due to renal problems (it damages your kidneys over time).

If someone drank a few glasses of this per day for a few years they would damage themselves in one way or another

edit: dumbass moment

yermum · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:46

If I'm nominated driver for the evening, then tonic, lime and ice is great. It has to have the quinine or it doesn't taste the same. Waitrose own is good.

Doohickey · 27 Nov 2009 at 23:59

James J said:
due to renal problems (it damages your liver over time)

You know 'renal' = kidneys, right? Not liver...

Skii · 28 Nov 2009 at 00:00

lovely stuff. even nicer with Gin

Irish_Tom · 28 Nov 2009 at 00:12

I like it. Schwepps do add a fair bit of sugar (or sweetener in the slimline) to their tonic though and the quinine levels are much lower than they used to be - real tonic can be quite bitter due to more quinine and less sugar.

During the last Regatta Week in Fowey my friends and I got heavily into Double-Double G & Ts.

Panzer

Hamster · 28 Nov 2009 at 00:16

Yeah, as said it goes well with Gin and some ice. I only ever have that on a plane though. According to some people, whether a myth or not, gin is more of a depressant than most other forms of booze.

James J · 28 Nov 2009 at 00:21

Doohickey said:
You know 'renal' = kidneys, right? Not liver...

Yeah ive been up since 5am and had 2 tests at uni today lol. Far too late to argue on the internet

meghatronic · 28 Nov 2009 at 00:42

James J said:
Yeah ive been up since 5am and had 2 tests at uni today lol. Far too late to argue on the internet

I hope the tests weren't anatomy

Souljacker · 28 Nov 2009 at 00:43

It tastes like ass.

James J · 28 Nov 2009 at 00:44

meghatronic said:
I hope the tests weren't anatomy

Funnily enough it was Biology lol, scored 90% so I think I used my "smarts" for today

tbs · 28 Nov 2009 at 01:01

James J said:
No its not its the quinine in the tonic water

Quinine is not enough to just "poison" you, you need a LARGE amount probably straight Quinine to poison you. Quinine is in tonic for the bitter taste, maybe back then it was poisonous since the amount wasnt handled carefully. When was the last time somebody died from drinking tonic water besides if they were allergic to it?