Somewhere between Edmonton and Flin Flon our old brown station wagon chewed up the kilometres one by one, headlights carving our way through the night. It was hot and I was thirsty, and in the darkness of the back seat I rummaged for a soda. I found a cold, tin cylinder, pulled off the ring tab and took a hearty gulp of the contents.
Instantly, my face twisted and contorted as my tongue recoiled.
"Eeuuugghhh!" I cried. "What is this?"
I looked at the can:
Tonic water. Tasted once, and never again. Apparently Mom and Dad used it for drink mix, once upon a time.
Instantly, my face twisted and contorted as my tongue recoiled.
"Eeuuugghhh!" I cried. "What is this?"
I looked at the can:
Tonic water. Tasted once, and never again. Apparently Mom and Dad used it for drink mix, once upon a time.
Tonic water has quinine in it. Your Coca-Cola refined tastebuds would never accept quinine, which is one of the truly bitter substances known to man. However, quinine does help against malaria, whereas Coke kind of attracts mosquitoes.
ReplyDeleteOur tonic water has very little quinine in it, and a bunch of other stuff is thrown in to make it palatable. If you are boiling hot and want to quench your thirst, you can learn to like the stuff. I can't drink much more than a neat small glass of it at once.
However, Tony makes THE DEFINITIVE gin and tonic. It's amazingly good.
I've never had malaria, so maybe my one gulp of tonic water immunized me...
ReplyDeleteBizarro Earl drinks nothing but tonic water. He has had malaria every day of his life since birth.
ReplyDeleteI read on Wikipedia that quinine fluoresces. So, naturally, Bizarro Earl has a black light in his bar fridge, and it only goes on when the door is closed.