Bangkok--10 Apr--Vivaldi
After several years tinkering in the laboratory, HENDRICK’S Gin Master Distiller Lesley Gracie has perfected anew quinine cordial, Quinetum - a delightful mixture of quinine, several natural extracts and distillates from a combination of fine botanicals. Designed especially for bartenders to use and blend perfectly with HENDRICK’S as a cocktail ingredient, Quinetum has made its way to the Land of Smiles for a very exclusive launch with some of the city’s finest mixologists.
Quinetum is made with the combination of lavender and orange distillates with extracts of orange blossom, wormwood and holy thistle. Its core ingredient of cinchona succirubra bark is balanced with botanicals for a more rounded and workable liquid. The new cordial is presented in a vessel modelled on a 1940s poison bottle discovered in an old London bric-a-brac shop.
Taking place at the most unique A.R. Sutton Engineers Siam, Regional Portfolio Ambassador Zachary Connor de Git and Global Brand Ambassador David Piper gave the bartenders an in-depth, yet colourful insight into the history of quinine and how Lesley Gracie was inspired by the work of Thomas Whiffen, a pioneering mathematician and chemist who did much to develop the use of quinine in the 19th century.
Invited guests were also treated to a very special showcase by Natakorn “Thumb” Changrew, Owner of Perfume Fragrance Bar and Aromatic Cuisine, and Cha Cha, Head Bartender of Belle’s Room. Together they presented a newly created cocktail each, using Hendrick’s Gin and Quinetum, and explaining the inspiration that goes behind making their most peculiar drink. For Cha Cha, her Quinetum Fizz was a flavourful drink with hints of berry notes, while Thump’s Leslie Green Collins was a refreshing and light cocktail, perfect for a hot afternoon in Bangkok.
The word ‘quinine’ originally derived from the Quechua (Inca) word for the cinchona tree bark where quinine occurs naturally. The tree was named after a Countess of Chinchón, the wife of a viceroy of Peru, who, in 1638, was introduced by native Quechua healers to the medicinal properties of cinchona bark. More than 200 years later, Thomas Whiffen did much to develop the use of quinine and its related products at the chemical factory where he worked. He was responsible for coining the name 'Quinetum' for the 'Pure Alkaloids of East India Red Bark' at his factory, which was known as 'Quinine Works Battersea'.