Tonic water was created in the mid-19th century by Erasmus Bond as a way to make the antimalarial quinine more palatable.

In a nutshell, tonic is carbonated water with added minerals, just like club soda. Tonic goes one more step, though, and adds quinine. Quinine is what gives tonic that bitter flavor, and it's also ...

We break it down for you here: Indian tonic water has been the go-to partner for gin since the colonial era when British army officers downed the quinine-heavy liquid to help them fight off malaria.