Schweppes Bitter Lemon

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malocchio
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Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

The old Schweppes small glass refillable bottles of bitter lemon were fantastic.Nothing in those flimsy plastic 1.5 litre jugs from todays Schweppes (made in Germany !) comes close in flavor,or the brutal carbonation in those old high pressure glass bottles.Fanta ,sold throughout Africa,makes one almost as good,and it's sold in refillable high pressure glass bottles still.I believe India cranks some out with the Schweppes label as well,not sure if it's in plastic or not....The closest thing we in America have now is a "Fevertree" tonic,but it really is nothing like the classic Schweppes,as Commander Whitehead would surely tell you...SO !! Any of you blokes have a recipe that would imitate the old Schweppes formula ???...I was thinking to zest a few lemons,soak the zest in it's own juice for a day,then add sugar and quinine water,but I'm not sure anyone sells a potent quinine nowadays,"soda" water from plastic containers is severely low on carbonation..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCygHT4V4z4
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drmoss_ca
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by drmoss_ca »

Could you get anywhere by mixing tonic water with lemon juice and a small amount of sugar? You'd have to recarbonate it in a soda siphon.

Chris
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
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malocchio
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

That sounds about right,but to get that real Schweppes flavor you need some zest thrown in...
ShadowsDad
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by ShadowsDad »

I remember the old Schwepps bitter lemon extremely well. They made a bitter orange and bitter lemon that was quite nice also, but the BL was best IMO.

I'm keenly interested in how you make out with that.

You didn't ask, but I find a similar problem with ginger beer. The stuff I find today is deliberately designed to be bland, so as not to strain anyone's tastes buds (sarcasm). So I take a commercial ginger beer as the base, then add a splash of my homemade ginger extract to add potency. Ahhh! I use Goya GB for the base.

OK, truth be told, the rum goes in the glass first, then the ginger extract, then the majority of ginger beer. Then, Ahhhh! :D

OK, bitter... maybe quinine, or maybe something else. There is a product called Bitrex. It's benign, but the most bitter substance known to man. I have 4 ozs of it and I'll never use it for it's intended use which is adding to product to make it totally unpalatable. That's if it's used in the "normal" concentration. I think I figured it out one time and the 4 ozs I have can treat 70,000 gallons of product. I can send you some. A very tiny amount, crumbs really, added to a dropper bottle of water to dilute it more, then maybe a drop of it to add the bitter. I can't stress the extreme bitterness of this and the extremely tiny amount it requires. I bought it to use with my bay rum, and for a gallon I had to use my loading scales and the amount I had to weigh out was... well, you get more salt on one French fry at McDonalds. It required a respirator to prevent dust from getting on the lips and being breathed, so wet is the way for you to work with it. If you want a tiny amount in a dropper bottle just let me know. Here's the chemical name, you can google it: dentonium benzoate , it's made by Johnson Matthey in the UK, sold here in the US by Market Actives out of Portland, OR.

Let me know.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
EL Alamein
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by EL Alamein »

I don't remember the original Schweppes but perhaps I can help with a starting point.

The Summer of 2013 I made a homemade tonic water from a recipe here.

It's not quite what you're looking for but perhaps a starting point. You might be able to alter the recipe to give you what you are seeking.

The tonic water it made was potent and very good. I was drinking Vodka and tonics made with it that Summer when leisure time permitted.

Hope that helps.

Chris
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malocchio
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

Chris....That recipe looks like what I would imagine the Fevertree recipe to look like,judging by the way it tastes to me,very different than the classic Schweppes taste...Brian...Yes ,I have known about Bitrex for quite sometime.If memory serves me,it was invented to keep winos from drinking bay rum and other aftershaves / colognes,medical alcohol etc...I do realize how bitter it is,and I appreciate the offer,but I think I will pass on the Bitrex,I bet you dabbled in home made aftershave at one time and have a stash of Bitrex left over ! ??..How did it turn out ??...I think only commercial aftershaves need it by law,homemade doesn't count.I have a quart of "perfumers alcohol" I will one day put to use,can't remember if it contains Bitrex or not.
ShadowsDad
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by ShadowsDad »

Well, yes, I might have dabbled with aftershave just a mite. :D (actually tongue in cheek emoticon goes here) I'm guessing you don't have signatures enabled?

I got rid of the Bitrex and the actual Rum to get rid of complaints from guys wives. They'd kiss their guys and get the Bitrex on their lips. Not good.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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malocchio
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

My signatures are "enabled",and the bitter kiss is no surprise !!...Bitrex is omnipotent !
ShadowsDad
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by ShadowsDad »

It is indeed. A friend was over for dinner one night and we got to talking about my after shaves. I happened to mention the bitrex, brought the 4 oz tub out and popped the lid. The invisible dust got on his lips and I was later told that he cussed me out every time he lit up a cigarette.

It was probably a pretty good thing I didn't have this substance when I was working. I could have had a great deal of fun with managements water bubblers. :twisted: :lol:
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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malocchio
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

Hey !! ..maybe that's the secret ingredient in NicoDerm skin patches !...You may be able to use that supply up yet...
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malocchio
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

Well....after playing around a bit ,I found that the juice from 2 VERY ripe Meyer lemons,adding double that amount of tonic water ,and 1 level teaspoon of sugar does a decent job imitating Schweppes.Tastes great straight over ice,and does the trick on any drink that calls for bitter lemon.
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drmoss_ca
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by drmoss_ca »

Well done!

C.
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Ouchmychin
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by Ouchmychin »

I've see ads for those home carbonators. I wonder if they can get the pressure needed to super carbonate the fluid. Might be able to stick the whole thing in the freezer and get it very cold while letting it stand. Transfer to the refrigerator and wait overnight. Just a thought.
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malocchio
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

Ouchmychin wrote:I've see ads for those home carbonators. I wonder if they can get the pressure needed to super carbonate the fluid. Might be able to stick the whole thing in the freezer and get it very cold while letting it stand. Transfer to the refrigerator and wait overnight. Just a thought.
....CARBONATION....This was the key to great soda pop before thruway glass and crap plastic...Those thick, heavy,short glass bottles of Coke were the perfect example...In the 50's that bubble blast was really superb,you'll never get that in todays low pressure plastic / thin glass bottles,they just can't hold the pressure.
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GA Russell
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by GA Russell »

malocchio, I didn't know that about the bottles.

I wonder if any of the companies that make "craft" soft drinks would use higher carbonation.
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malocchio
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

The cap would have to be an old style crimped down by pressure metal cap,on a thick glass bottle.If the bottle has a plastic or twist cap it won't be a high pressure bottle.I'm not a beer drinker,but if any soda pop artisans are using the old style high pressure beer bottles and crimp caps,those should be high carbonation drinks...
Barry
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by Barry »

ShadowsDad wrote:I remember the old Schwepps bitter lemon extremely well. They made a bitter orange and bitter lemon that was quite nice also, but the BL was best IMO.

I'm keenly interested in how you make out with that.

You didn't ask, but I find a similar problem with ginger beer. The stuff I find today is deliberately designed to be bland, so as not to strain anyone's tastes buds (sarcasm). So I take a commercial ginger beer as the base, then add a splash of my homemade ginger extract to add potency. Ahhh! I use Goya GB for the base.



Let me know.
You should try Stoney Ginger Beer or "Stoney Tangawizi" if you haven't already. It's strong and good. The Stoney's brand is very sweet but strong. I understand the East African varieties are even stronger.

If you're a drinker you might enjoy "The Kings Ginger" a ginger infused scotch liqueur.
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malocchio
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by malocchio »

I drank many a Tangawizi (Kiswahili for ginger) drink in Tanzania....African soda is like American soda in the 50's...A great way to get full blast ginger "beer" is to chop up a hand of ginger,put it into a food processor with water and liquefy it.Pour that into a pot with more water and boil 10 minutes,strain while hot,add sugar or honey to taste,cool.At this point you can add a teaspoon of real vanilla and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.For a real African taste add some red dried hibiscus leaves to the mix as soon as you take the pot off the heat,so the flowers can be strained out.Any Mexican market sells the flowers,as "Jamaica"....in Tanzania they have red and pink hibiscus flowers,known as "rosella",and recently smart business people have jarred the powdered leaves.
ShadowsDad
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by ShadowsDad »

I just did a search for it and Amazon lists it but it's currently out of stock.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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drmoss_ca
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Re: Schweppes Bitter Lemon

Post by drmoss_ca »

malocchio wrote:I drank many a Tangawizi (Kiswahili for ginger) drink in Tanzania....African soda is like American soda in the 50's...A great way to get full blast ginger "beer" is to chop up a hand of ginger,put it into a food processor with water and liquefy it.Pour that into a pot with more water and boil 10 minutes,strain while hot,add sugar or honey to taste,cool.At this point you can add a teaspoon of real vanilla and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.For a real African taste add some red dried hibiscus leaves to the mix as soon as you take the pot off the heat,so the flowers can be strained out.Any Mexican market sells the flowers,as "Jamaica"....in Tanzania they have red and pink hibiscus flowers,known as "rosella",and recently smart business people have jarred the powdered leaves.
I make ginger beer much the same way. You have to wait two days, but it is incredibly fizzy, strongly gingerish and even a bit alcoholic.

Chris
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
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