Grant Crilly is the Executive Director and cofounder of ChefSteps. Grant is a classically trained chef and, prior to ChefSteps, he worked on the award-winning cookbook series Modernist Cuisine and cooked at various restaurants, including L’Astrance in Paris, Busaba in Mumbai, and Mistral Kitchen in Seattle.

Grant Crilly

Quinine is an unpleasant, bitter alkaloid with one redeeming quality: it can ward off malaria. This disease was the scourge of nineteenth-century colonial empires, and it wasn’t long before the bitterness of quinine was tempered with sugar and a hint of lime to make tonic water. British colonials quickly developed a taste for tonic water mixed with gin, and the gin and tonic became a standard everywhere the Union Jack was flown.We temper our tonic syrup with fresh green apple juice, add vitamin C to help preserve the vibrant green hue of the juice, sweeten the juice with sugar, and balance the flavor with the refreshing bite of malic acid (a fruit acid found in everything from apples to cherries). Try it with a London dry-style gin for a refreshing take on the classic gin and tonic, or use it in our twist on the classic gimlet.

Green Apple Tonic