Homemade Tonic Water for your Indiana Vodka & Tonic

My fellow distiller and friend Jonathan Forester has an interesting recipe for tonic water. We tried this last weekend and it is frankly awesome. Vodka & Tonic never tasted so good. Here is the recipe

Ingredients:
32 oz water
7 whole, crushed, Key Limes weighing 120 grams, just over 4 fluid ozs, juice and rinds separated. (if you can't find key limes, use regular limes and squeeze out 4 ozs.)
1/2 tsp or 2 grams powdered Star Anise
3 tsp or 6 grams ground Sumac Berries
1/2 tsp Vietnamese Cassia
1/2 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon
1/4 tsp clove
1/4 cup or 50 grams Citric Acid (sometimes called Sour salt)
1 tsp or 8 grams kosher Salt
1/4 cup or 22 grams (about 1 oz) chopped Cinchona Bark (Quinine bark)

2.5 cups cane sugar (if you use caster sugar adjust down appropriately)

Put all the ingredients except the Key Lime rinds and the sugar in a sauce pan and bring it to boil, then simmer 20 minutes. Next add the limes rinds and simmer 20 more minutes. Then filter the liquid hot through double coffee filters, twice. This makes approximately 16 ozs of liquid. Finally, add the cane sugar to the hot liquid in a closed jar, which should top off at just under 32 ozs and shake to dissolve the sugar.

Add this syrup to your Indiana Vodka 1 part syrup to 2 parts Indiana Vodka and stir to combine. Then add 2 parts club soda and ice. Garnish with some extra key lime wedges.

If you have access to a soda siphon, then you can add the syrup to water to make your own tonic water (1 part syrup to 2 parts water, or to taste).

Okay, so you are asking yourself where you can get Quinine Bark. Well, here, or Google it. Just make sure you use the actual herb and don't buy capsules or powder.

Cheers!