How to Make Quinine Taste Sweet

If you occasionally imbibe a gin and tonic or vodka and tonic, you probably know that quinine creates the bitter flavor in tonic water. Originally derived from trees found in Peru and Ecuador, the bark was crushed into a white powder. Also used medicinally, a commercial, synthetic form of the powder was created in 1944 to save the trees from being destroyed because of over-harvesting.

Quinine itself is bitter, but it can be improved by being mixed with a sweetener. Because there is a wide variety of ways to do this, you may wish to try several before achieving the desired taste.

Things You'll Need

• Quinine powder
• Airtight container or bottle
• White or brown sugar
• Artificial sweeteners
• Corn syrup, honey or molasses
• Stevia plant
• Water
• Pan

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Instructions

• 1

  Mix a large amount of white or brown sugar into the quinine powder to overtake the bitter flavor. If diabetic, use an artificial sweetener such as aspartame, saccharin or sucralose (Splenda). Store in an airtight container until you desire to use the sweetened quinine.

• 2

  Add a liquid sweetener to the powder, such as honey, corn syrup or molasses. Mix into the powder with a spoon and store in a bottle.

• 3

  Boil 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar on the stove for five minutes to create a syrup. Cool, then mix in with the quinine powder, storing in a bottle until needed.

• 4

  Cut leaves from the Stevia plant and soak them in water; this makes a natural sweetener in liquid form. Or purchase Stevia at your health food or grocery store as a powder or liquid and add to the quinine.