Keeping Malaria and Scurvy At Bay

To make this posting (and the rest of Baklava Java) meaningful, one needs to know that the Chastain family moved from Seattle to Luxembourg in August 2008. We will be here for two years, for Cammy's work assignment.

When we got here, it was hot for Luxembourg, which is to say it was similar to a Seattle summer. Around 80 degrees Fahrenheit and kind of muggy. Having spent summers in the primordial swamp that is southeastern Ohio, and having played softball at high noon in 100+ Texas August heat, a Luxembourg summer isn't that bad in comparison. However, we were looking for thirst quenching refreshment almost constantly. We tried the usual suspects: Coke, Cherry Coke, Pepsi. They all tasted different than we were used to, and somewhat...diminished. They seemed to be less fizzy, less sweet, possibly with less caffeine or phosphoric acid. Something.

Then we discovered the Schweppes Holy Trinity: Bitter Lemon, Indian Tonic and Agram'. Not wanting to risk blasphemy, I'm not going to line them up against the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but they were life changing.

Bitter Lemon was the early favorite. Americans hate bitter, so a drink with "bitter" in the title would never sell in the U.S. However, it is crisp, balanced and delightful in a grown up way. It has a natural lemony flavor, so unlike the candy artifice of 7Up and Sprite. One can almost taste the zest and lemon oil. It finishes with just a touch of quinine.

Indian Tonic (what Americans know as Tonic Water) is the perfect mixer to go with a good gin. As the originators of Tonic Water in 1870s India, Schweppes knows their way around a malaria fighting cocktail. Although I enjoy martinis, a finely crafted gin and tonic is the perfect cocktail, in my unhumble opinion. Mix the Indian Tonic, a squeeze of lime and a decent gin and you get a cocktail that grabs you by ears and gives your head a shake. Something about the combination of bitter quinine, tart lime and the juniper aromatics in an icy swirl of sweet carbonation produces something more more refreshing than anything else I know.

Back in my college days at Colorado, going to Folsom Stadium to watch the Buffs play was the prime way to spent an autumn Saturday afternoon. To get great seats, my circle of friends and I would traditionally camp out in front of the ticket office at the beginning of every season. Another widespread tradition was the smuggling in of gin and tonics. The correct way to do it was to start with a plastic gallon jug of supermarket spring water. After dumping out the water, shove a couple handfuls of ice cubes into the narrow mouth of the jug. Add most of a bottle of gin, a couple sliced up limes and Schweppes tonic water. All that remained was to devise a creative way to get the cocktail jug into the game (and there were many).

Finally, Agram' is a lovely grapefruit soda. It is a little like Squirt though less sweet and with more zest. It is delicate and fragrant and more approachable, since it lacks the quinine of the other two.

I know how good each of these tasted. What I didn't know was how well they worked: we haven't come down with either malaria or scurvy. I am still a little concerned about beri beri. I am following a rumored preventative I found on the Internet: single malt Scotch, especially from distilleries around the Spey River. I'll keep everyone posted on how it works....