Bitter lemon is a tart variation of tonic water, with quinine creating bitterness and lemon juice adding tartness. It was initially made into syrups to combat malaria and later used in cocktails like gin and tonic. Schweppes claims to have created it, and it is not a good substitute for other lemon drinks.
Bitter lemon is an interesting and tart variation of tonic water. Typically tonic water is a carbonated drink with a blend of sweetener, caffeine, and quinine. When lemon juice is added to this mix, the drink becomes lemony bitters.
It would be a mistake to assume that lemon adds a bitter taste to soda. The quinine creates bitterness while the lemon juice adds tartness. The sugar levels in bitter lemon keep the lemon element fairly sweet, but do little to mitigate the bitter taste of the quinine. However, many people have come to appreciate the taste of this additive, initially made into syrups to combat malaria. Others who didn’t care for flavor would cut the flavor of first tonic syrups and later tonic water by adding liberal amounts of alcohol to them, thus creating popular cocktails like the gin and tonic.
Variations of the bitter lemon first appeared in the mid-20th century, and the Schweppes Company, already very well known for its tonic water, claims to have created it. Since then many fans have used soda as a replacement for tonic water. On some of the sites of companies that are the main manufacturers of the mixer, such as Canada Dry and Schweppes, there are recipes for various bitter lemon cocktails. Classics include adding gin or vodka to soda. Another drink that uses the mixer is the Deep Blue Sea, which mixes a shot of it with peach schnapps, blue Curacao, and lime cordial.
It should be noted that other lemon drinks are typically not good substitutes for bitter lemon. If the drink doesn’t contain quinine, it usually won’t have the desired flavor or flavor addition in cocktails. While there are many excellent, relatively tart lemon sodas, such as Limonata, they are not bitter enough to use as a substitute.
You don’t need to add alcohol to this soda to enjoy it. The soda can be said to have a small, devoted following that would only think of adding some ice. Bitter lemon is certainly not equal in popularity to other beverages like colas, lemon-lime sodas, or root beers.
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