Beverage Notes

Had a couple of unique drinking experiences over the weekend...

I received an issue of Imbibe magazine, unsolicited, and found a recipe for homemade tonic water (even our favorite brand, Schweppes, contains the evil HFCS, "and/or sugar"). Jenny's imminent birthday was inspiration enough to whip up a batch, since she's always game for a G&T, but I had to order ingredients online so the present was delayed. The integral ingredient, quinine, is an anti-malarial, and the G&T, legend has it, became popular in malarial regions as a tolerable way to take one's medicine, literally.

You start with a sugar syrup, then add quinine (very finely powdered cinchona bark), citric acid, lemongrass, lime zest, and lime juice. That mixture steeps for a while, then you strain it many many times through coffee filters, making a big sticky mess. The resulting syrup is very medicinal looking and tasting. You mix it with gin and soda water, with a squeeze of lime, and then you're transported to a different time and place altogether.



I was similarly transported by the coffee after last night's dinner. Le Cheval is a popular Oakland spot, wildly busy on a Sunday night, serving a large variety of Vietnamese specialties. I'd never had Viet coffee before, and it was a treat. Your mug is presented with a thick layer of sweetened condensed milk on the bottom, topped by the coffee dripping through your own individual filter. A second cup holds hot water and a spoon, so you can dilute and/or stir your coffee as you please. What a delicious finish to dinner! And I stayed awake through the entire 11 pm newscast.