Medicine on Board
The Royal Navy, Quinine and the First Gin & Tonic
Gin & Tonic wasn't born in a bar, but as a defense against a tropical disease. British officers in India mixed bitter quinine water with sugar, lime and gin, simply to make a necessary medicine drinkable at all.
Quinine Against Malaria in the Colonies
Malaria threatened British soldiers and officials in the colonies of India and other tropical regions more than any enemy ever could. The bark of the South American cinchona tree contains quinine, a compound that lowers fever and helps prevent the disease. Doctors prescribed it to the British in India as a daily dose. Pure quinine water, however, tastes extraordinarily bitter and was barely tolerable for many. Anyone required to take the medicine long-term needed a way to make it more bearable — and that's exactly where the daily life of the officers' mess came in.