What is cinchona?
Cinchona: Bark of a South American tree, the original source of quinine, once taken against malaria. It's why tonic water and quinquinas are bitter.
- Category
- Botanical & raw ingredient
- Taste
- Dry, sharp bitterness.
- Similar to
- gentian
- Also called
- cinchona bark, quinine
The story
The Quechua people of the Andes used cinchona bark against fevers. Jesuit missionaries brought it to Europe in the 1630s. In the 1800s, British officers in India took their quinine in tonic water and added gin to make it go down easier: the first gin and tonics.