East End Tonic in the Media

View article on East End Tonic @ edibleIDAHO

Boise, Idaho’s East End Tonic company uses organic and sustainably grown herbs and ingredients. What really sets them apart are two novel additions that aren’t seen in other tonic syrups.

The Pau d’arco tree is native to the South American rainforest. A tea made from the tree’s inner bark known as Lapacho has been used in traditional medicine by indigenous peoples including the Incas. The tea is widely available as a holistic treatment for a number of conditions. The tree itself is best known for its pink spring flowers, for which it is more commonly known as the Pink Trumpet Tree.

And then there’s the sweetener. East End Tonic has zero calories. Period.

Monk Fruit Extract is said to be nearly 200 times sweeter than sugar. So-named because it was widely cultivated by Monks in Southeast Asia as early as the 12th century C.E.— it’s come into vogue recently as an alternative sweetener. Especially because Monk Fruit Extract does not affect blood sugar levels.

East End Tonic uses Lakanto Monk Fruit sugar substitute in their tonic tonic syrup.

…

With a bold vision: “We made this Tonic to be the ‘all-around’ Tonic to go with any type of spirit or cocktail recipe that calls for simple syrup and citrus.” Boise, Idaho’s East End Tonic’s Citrom Tonic (the ‘m’ is not a typo) is the more citrus-forward among their line of tonic syrups. Similar to their maqui berry tonic, Citrom tonic is sweetened with sugar.

Unlike the other two, it doesn’t use more than one bark. Citrom Tonic is only cinchona bark. In addition to that, it features kola nuts and lemon oil in addition to spices.

In Hungarian, Citrom means lemon, simply enough.

Tasting Notes

Citrom tonic has an intense, vivid amber color from the bottle. Nosed, there’s a bit more wood than in the other East End Tonic syrups. It’s almost got a spicy A1 BBQ sauce nose. It’s a touch smoky, woody, and sweet with heavy molasses notes. It’s a bit unusual— I wouldn’t have guessed lemon or any sort of citrus for that matter.

The palate is moderately sweet early with a mid-palate lemon and orange zest hit. It becomes slightly more woody towards the finish which at first is slightly cloying with hints of lemon gumdrop and a touch of quinine. Then it becomes a bit more cola-like with citrus, nutmeg, and cinnamon create a note suggestive more of a Q cola than of a Pepsi or Coke. Overall, on its own, although quite sweet, it has a nice flavor profile

…

The Boise, Idaho based East End Tonic are no strangers to unusual ingredients in their tonic water. For example, their flagship tonic syrup is sweetened with Monk Fruit and features the bark of the Pau D’arco tree. Their Maqui Berry Tonic is no different.

Maqui Berry is a strong antioxidant and is one of many “superfruits.” These small dark colored berries were a part of the native peoples of what is now Chile’s medicine. They’ve now entered our modern day natural-healing culture as a potential helper for everything from your heart’s health to dry eyes.

Chris Killiam upon trying the berries in 2011 wrote, “One thing I discovered is that maqui berries taste delicious. They are sweet, bursting with flavor, and something I would be happy to eat every day.” Emilia Benton wrote for PopSugar, “Maqui berries offer up a tart flavor similar to blackberries and cherries.” Before East End Maqui Berry Tonic, I’ve never had them.

In addition to maqui berry, East End Maqui Berry Tonic features elderberry, bilberry, lemon oil, orange oil, spices and is sweetened with sugar.

…