Tonight from 5-7pm in both the Brooklyn and Manhattan wine stores, we’ll be sampling Gin & Tonics made with Junipero gin and Q Tonic.

Q Tonic brings G&Ts back to their historic origin. In 1825, British officers in the Indian army were prescribed daily doses of bitter quinine to combat malaria. Some brilliant soul came up with the idea of marrying the medicine with another daily ritual – cocktail hour. By combining the quinine with gin, soda water and sugar, the medicine went down easier and a classic cocktail was born.

Until recently, trying to recreate a historically accurate G&T was near impossible. Most tonic waters on the market now contain artificial quinine and are sweetened with corn syrup. Q Tonic, however, contains real quinine derived from Cinchona bark picked from the Peruvian Andes and agave syrup as a sweetener. Available at Provisions in Brooklyn, it is tonic water for the discerning drinker – an appropriate companion to Junipero, a spirit that has been called “the perfect gin” and “America’s greatest gin.”