Denise:
Um, I hate to disabuse you, but tonic doesn't prevent malaria. Neither does
lime juice. This is sort of an old wives' tale.
What really deals with malaria is quinine; years ago, during the days of the
British Empire on which the Sun Never Set (because, as everyone knows, even
God doesn't trust the Brits after dark), they dissolved quinine in tonic
water to ward off malaria, leaving many to believe it was the tonic which was
doing the job. The stuff tasted bloody awful, though, and so they added lime
juice ... and eventually, some brilliant Brit decided that a pinch of gin
wouldn't hurt. Made it palatable, actually ... and that is the true story of
the invention of the gin&tonic. Which of course led to the supposed
'medicinal properties' of the G&T. Really, it's the quinine.
Cheers,
ckr
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