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No mention of how British colonials were drinking it to cover up the awful taste of quinine, taken to combat malaria.

That just sounds like an excuse to drink gin. Disclosure: I like the taste of Indian tonic water

Indian tonic water (modern stuff) has vastly lower levels of quinine than what you would take back then.

Your genes actually play a large role in how you perceive the taste of quinine http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/quinine

There's a Surprisingly Awesome episode about Broccoli and part of it is about genetic taste preferences and some people taste quinine in it. Very interesting episode:

https://gimletmedia.com/episode/6-broccoli/

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