No Tonic Water anywhere in town

[Jimjim1968]

Hi,

I like to drink gin and tonic. It goes very nicely with the cool of the evening and is written about by the great authors who resided in SE Asia back in the day.

For about 2 months now my local Makro has had none. Tescos sometimes has a small amount but it is usually bought out by a local farang bar shortly after they restock. But not anymore.

This morning I asked at the counter in Makro. The lady told me there was a problem with the company.

I do hope Thailand is not playing silly buggers with Schwepps, like they did with Pepsi.

Does anyone know anything about the tonic water supplies in Thailand?

Any info gratefully received.

[Nautilus05]

One of the things I've learned about living here is you end up making your own stuff from scratch quite often -- pita bread, buns, various spices / sauces, etc. Lots of things simply aren't available.

Do a Google for "how to make tonic water", and a bunch of recipes pop up. Maybe give one of those a try?

[landtrout]

One of the things I've learned about living here is you end up making your own stuff from scratch quite often -- pita bread, buns, various spices / sauces, etc. Lots of things simply aren't available.

Do a Google for "how to make tonic water", and a bunch of recipes pop up. Maybe give one of those a try?

I'm with you on that, and have found myself attempting all sorts of recipes for things that I'd never have considered making for myself before relocating to Thailand.

The only drinkable tonic water that I've found in this country is Schweppes, and it DOES seem to disappear from the shelves from time to time.

The OP doesn't say where he's located, but cases of Schweppes are currently available in Chiang Mai (after another brief absence...).

I did look into the posssibility of making up a batch of my own a couple of years ago, as an alternative to an unreliable supply as well as out of curiosity about the quality and taste of the 'handmade' variety.

Unfortunately, I've never been able to source the cinchona bark, in either chopped or powdered form.

Do you have a line on a Thai supplier, or a supplier anywhere who's willing to ship to Thailand?

[YipYipYa123]

there was shitloads of the stuff in the tesco lotus on ratchada road yesterday evening ,and i mean shitloads

if theyve managed to sell it all already (unlikley ) drive 500 metres down the road on the same side and check the big C

they usually have loads as well

[Jimjim1968]

Thanks for replies.

I am in Chumpon.

[rak sa_ngop]

Just bought 4 cans in Foodland Bangkok.

[beautifulthailand99]

Impossible to get the diet version .....can concur with the like rocking horse sh&t - there's a gap in the market methinks.

[petedk]

I don't why but tonic often disappears from the shelves. Sometimes it's available in small bottles.

Ever since the floods it's been very difficult to find tonis so now I usually buy tonic every time I see it and have maybe up to 30 cans in the store.

[petedk]

i think Foodland is te best place to get tonic is Foodland.

I have seen them come with a couple of cases and they disappear within minutes.

[ukrules]

I noticed they had stacks of cases of tonic water cans in Villa Hua Hin a few hours ago while I was there doing some shopping.

[Seastallion]

One of the things I've learned about living here is you end up making your own stuff from scratch quite often -- pita bread, buns, various spices / sauces, etc. Lots of things simply aren't available.

Do a Google for "how to make tonic water", and a bunch of recipes pop up. Maybe give one of those a try?

I'm with you on that, and have found myself attempting all sorts of recipes for things that I'd never have considered making for myself before relocating to Thailand.

The only drinkable tonic water that I've found in this country is Schweppes, and it DOES seem to disappear from the shelves from time to time.

The OP doesn't say where he's located, but cases of Schweppes are currently available in Chiang Mai (after another brief absence...).

I did look into the posssibility of making up a batch of my own a couple of years ago, as an alternative to an unreliable supply as well as out of curiosity about the quality and taste of the 'handmade' variety.

Unfortunately, I've never been able to source the cinchona bark, in either chopped or powdered form.

Do you have a line on a Thai supplier, or a supplier anywhere who's willing to ship to Thailand?

I believe the cinchona is only added to "Indian" tonic water (Schweppes). It was a "tonic" for anti-malarial purposes. The cinchona contains quinine. Essentially, you need to find a bitter additive as that is what the cinchona adds to the taste. (aside from quinine). Something like fenugreek perhaps (you should be able to find that in Indian grocery shops, just ask for methi.)

[kannot]

Id say the supply chain here is pretty poor along with stock taking checks, even Tesco are frequently out of stock of a lot of things , no Pepsi max at the moment BUT what I also see is Mango juice is always sold out yet all the other juices are available,. As a manager of this particular Tesco I would notice this and treble my order of mango flavour , but nope always the same amount as the other flavours , none of which sell out.

Noticed this with many other products they stock too, they dont seem to keep tabs on whats selling and what isnt.

[Jimjim1968]

It really gets my goat why things run out of stock perhaps for months in this country, and yet as other posters have stated there is an abundant supply at other stores. The lack of tonic water means I can't make my favourite drink, and I am sure a lot of people enjoy a gin and tonic in the evening. Surely big supermarkets like Tescos are on the ball and this sort of problem just shouldn't occur.

Is there anyway to tackle this problem or do we just have to live with it and say T.I.T?

Also noticed that the Tescos fruit and nut chocolate bar space was vacant yesterday with a big, ugly red sticker on it.

Does anything else do with gin?

[landtrout]

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One of the things I've learned about living here is you end up making your own stuff from scratch quite often -- pita bread, buns, various spices / sauces, etc. Lots of things simply aren't available.

Do a Google for "how to make tonic water", and a bunch of recipes pop up. Maybe give one of those a try?

I'm with you on that, and have found myself attempting all sorts of recipes for things that I'd never have considered making for myself before relocating to Thailand.

The only drinkable tonic water that I've found in this country is Schweppes, and it DOES seem to disappear from the shelves from time to time.

The OP doesn't say where he's located, but cases of Schweppes are currently available in Chiang Mai (after another brief absence...).

I did look into the posssibility of making up a batch of my own a couple of years ago, as an alternative to an unreliable supply as well as out of curiosity about the quality and taste of the 'handmade' variety.

Unfortunately, I've never been able to source the cinchona bark, in either chopped or powdered form.

Do you have a line on a Thai supplier, or a supplier anywhere who's willing to ship to Thailand?

I believe the cinchona is only added to "Indian" tonic water (Schweppes). It was a "tonic" for anti-malarial purposes. The cinchona contains quinine. Essentially, you need to find a bitter additive as that is what the cinchona adds to the taste. (aside from quinine). Something like fenugreek perhaps (you should be able to find that in Indian grocery shops, just ask for methi.)

Thanks for that, although.... the only reason that I drink the damn things is for their antimalarial properties!

I've never seen a recipe for tonic water that doesn't include cinchona as a vital ingredient, but I do have some fenugreek seeds on hand, and may just take a swing at it to see what I can come up with.

It really gets my goat why things run out of stock perhaps for months in this country, and yet as other posters have stated there is an abundant supply at other stores. The lack of tonic water means I can't make my favourite drink, and I am sure a lot of people enjoy a gin and tonic in the evening. Surely big supermarkets like Tescos are on the ball and this sort of problem just shouldn't occur.

Is there anyway to tackle this problem or do we just have to live with it and say T.I.T?

Also noticed that the Tescos fruit and nut chocolate bar space was vacant yesterday with a big, ugly red sticker on it.

Does anything else do with gin?

Extra dry vermouth, my good man!

Three ounces of Bombay Original, half an ounce of Noilly Prat Extra Dry and three fat, garlic-stuffed green olives skewered with a toothpick.

Stirred, not shaken (Ian Fleming was a far better novelist than mixologist) and served 'up' in a frozen martini glass.

Cheers!

[yourauntbob]

I have seen them at foodland, villa, max value, tesco lotus express, and some 7/11's. i dont drink it that much, but normally schweppes is available when i look for it.

[Seastallion]

It really gets my goat why things run out of stock perhaps for months in this country, and yet as other posters have stated there is an abundant supply at other stores. The lack of tonic water means I can't make my favourite drink, and I am sure a lot of people enjoy a gin and tonic in the evening. Surely big supermarkets like Tescos are on the ball and this sort of problem just shouldn't occur.

Is there anyway to tackle this problem or do we just have to live with it and say T.I.T?

Also noticed that the Tescos fruit and nut chocolate bar space was vacant yesterday with a big, ugly red sticker on it.

Does anything else do with gin?

Gin, lime, and lemonade is almost as good.

And maybe a splash of Bitters.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Seastallion

[Seastallion]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Thanks for that, although.... the only reason that I drink the <deleted> things is for their antimalarial properties!

I've never seen a recipe for tonic water that doesn't include cinchona as a vital ingredient, but I do have some fenugreek seeds on hand, and may just take a swing at it to see what I can come up with.

It really gets my goat why things run out of stock perhaps for months in this country, and yet as other posters have stated there is an abundant supply at other stores. The lack of tonic water means I can't make my favourite drink, and I am sure a lot of people enjoy a gin and tonic in the evening. Surely big supermarkets like Tescos are on the ball and this sort of problem just shouldn't occur.

Is there anyway to tackle this problem or do we just have to live with it and say T.I.T?

Also noticed that the Tescos fruit and nut chocolate bar space was vacant yesterday with a big, ugly red sticker on it.

Does anything else do with gin?

Extra dry vermouth, my good man!

Three ounces of Bombay Original, half an ounce of Noilly Prat Extra Dry and three fat, garlic-stuffed green olives skewered with a toothpick.

Stirred, not shaken (Ian Fleming was a far better novelist than mixologist) and served 'up' in a frozen martini glass.

Cheers!

I just replied to Jimjim advising gin, lime, and lemonade...with a dash of Bitters. Bitters should be better than fenugreek, by far....heaven knows why I didn't think of it.

Actually, I do know.....I have been trying to duplicate a Thai dipping sauce, one ingredient of which is beef bile. Hard to get bile, so I had been looking for a very bitter ingredient to substitute...tried fenugreek. No good Freshly expressed coffee worked though....anyway....yes a martini is good.