I love writing about chemistry, more than anything I’ve ever done professionally. In part that’s because I learn stupid stuff, an example of which occurred again yesterday. I was writing a larger piece about quinones and related compounds, and I got to thinking about gin.

The only spirit I drink is gin. I’m really a beer guy, but I love a drop of mother’s ruin and tonic too. As you likely know, quinine is the essential ingredient of tonic water.

Quinine can be isolated from the Cinchona tree, and because of quinine’s malaria fighting capabilities, the tree is known as the Fever Tree. And that of course explains this.

Maybe you all knew this already, I didn’t.