Cocktails with Bitter lemon tonic water
Bitter lemon is a carbonated soft drink bittered by lemon pith and quinine and soured by lemon juice.
How it's used
Pour it last, as a long top, so it keeps its fizz. Gin, vodka and vermouth take it well, and so does orange juice in alcohol-free drinks.
Substitutes for Bitter lemon tonic water
Tonic water with lemon juice
A perfect substitute. Stir about a barspoon of fresh juice into every 100 ml of tonic to get the same quinine bite and citrus note.
Plain tonic water
A backup. It delivers the essential quinine bitterness and similar sugar levels, but you lose the lemon completely.
Lemon-lime soda
Won't work. It is sweet and citrusy, but with zero quinine, the crucial bitter edge disappears.
Storage
An unopened bottle keeps for months. Once opened, the carbonation goes within a day or so while the bitterness stays, and flat bitter lemon tastes merely sour.
