The Gimlet has a backstory along the lines of the Gin and Tonic. It was created as a way for the navy to incorporate lime juice into its diet to avoid scurvy. These days scurvy may be almost unheard of, but between 1500-1800 roughly two million sailors died of what was a very painful death. In the 1790’s it was discovered that lemons were responsible for holding scurvy at bay, prompting all sailors to be issued a daily dose of the citrus to be consumed in rum. In the 19th century, lemons were switched to limes because they were readily…
According to Winston Churchill, the gin and tonic “has saved more Englishmen’s lives and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.” It was the tonic’s quinine, of course, which did the life saving. Seventeenth century Peruvians discovered that the bark of the cinchona tree (which became known as the fever tree) could be used to treat various fevers. It worked impressively well for not only treating malaria but preventing it as well. As a result it became something of a powerful weapon for the British to rule their distant lands of India. And rule it they did, for almost…
