basically this is soda/carbonated water with a dash of
quinine (which happens to come in real handy when you're suffering
malaria or
yellow fever)
like cooking chocolate, i drank it as a child when there were no more paletteable softdrinks&around. there was always a healthy supply of tonic water around -- my mother being rather partial to a gin and tonic.
the killer (as a kid) is the bitter aftertaste of the quinine. but if you scull it fast enough it tastes like lemonade...