Wajos Rhubarb, Apple & Thyme - Tonic Syrup. Rhubarb juice, apple and thyme with quinine, fruity and bitter – the tonic syrup you use to mix your own tonic.
Wajos Rhubarb, Apple & Thyme - Tonic Syrup is a syrup for making a quinine-containing soft drink, made from sugar, rhubarb juice, apple juice concentrate, thyme extract, natural flavourings and quinine, 200 ml from Dohr on the Moselle. Not a ready-made tonic water, not a liqueur, not a fruit syrup for children, but a concentrate with a bitter note that only becomes a tonic when mixed with sparkling water. Vegan.
Rhubarb, Apple & Thyme - Tonic Syrup by Wajos is the opposite of tonic water from a bottle. One always tastes the same, is always equally sweet, always equally bitter, and the bottle is empty after one evening. The other is a syrup you dose yourself: more sparkling water for a light tonic, less for a strong one, a dash for the gin, a spoonful for the sparkling wine. We often get orders for the small bottle – and it also works on its own with sparkling water, as a better tonic for dinner.
Rhubarb and apple at the front, thyme behind, quinine at the very end
On its own, the syrup is thick and sweet – but no one drinks it that way. When mixed with sparkling water, you first get the rhubarb, tart and slightly green, then the sweetness of the apple, which rounds it out. The thyme lies on top, spicy and herbal, and in the end, the bitterness of the quinine remains – the note that turns a lemonade into a tonic. It is a tart, sophisticated drink, far removed from rhubarb spritzer.
To be honest, that means: sugar is the first ingredient, 94 grams per 100 millilitres – this is a syrup made to be diluted. Since you dilute it heavily, much less ends up in the glass. The fruit comes from rhubarb juice and apple juice concentrate, the thyme from extract, and natural flavourings and quinine are added as flavourings. If you have to avoid quinine, leave the syrup out – it is part of it, like in any tonic.
For anyone looking for a classic, neutral tonic for a London Dry, the syrup is not suitable – the rhubarb speaks for itself. In that case, the Botanical Tonic Syrup by Wajos, with juniper and lemongrass, is closer to a classic tonic.
With sparkling water, with gin, with sparkling wine – and as a syrup for desserts
The simplest tonic: two to three centilitres of syrup in the glass, ice, cold sparkling water, stir once. We start with one part syrup to five parts water and adjust to taste – the syrup is strong, so less is often more. A sprig of thyme or an apple slice in the glass, and the alcohol-free evening drink that tastes sophisticated is ready.
With gin, it becomes a gin and tonic in which the tonic has an opinion: four centilitres of gin, two centilitres of syrup, ice, sparkling water. A fruity gin like the Summer Gin takes the rhubarb well, while a herbal gin brings the thyme to the front. A teaspoon of syrup in a glass of sparkling wine or Prosecco makes an aperitif that lies between a Hugo and a rhubarb spritzer – good for guests who find sparkling wine on its own too boring.
The syrup also has its place beyond the glass: a tablespoon over vanilla ice cream, in the yoghurt for breakfast, over strawberries or in a quark dish. The bitter note is barely noticeable there, while the rhubarb-apple note is clearly evident. And as a base for a sorbet made from syrup, water and lemon, it is the perfect dessert for a summer evening.
The syrup is not suitable as a drink for children – quinine and the bitter note are intended for adults. And it is not well suited for cooking: In warm dishes, only the sweetness remains, while the bitterness becomes unpleasant. Cold, diluted, with plenty of ice – that is how it is intended.
Our tip: Two centilitres of syrup, a sprig of thyme and ice in the glass, top with sparkling water and a splash of lemon – the tonic we drink on the terrace for dinner.
A tonic syrup from a house with roots in wine
Wajos is a craft beverage producer in Dohr near Cochem on the Moselle, with roots in a wine-growing family from Ediger-Eller. Walter Josef Oster, whose initials form the name, came from 15 generations of wine-growing and founded a liqueur manufactory next to the winery in the 1980s. His son Peter Oster and Ulf Schwichtenberg built the Wajos brand from this starting in the 2000s – the first store in 2008 in Trier, today over 80 employees in Dohr and stores throughout Germany.
The bar is the second pillar at Wajos alongside the kitchen: gins, liqueurs, rum and, of course, the tonic syrups, with which the house lets you mix the drinks yourself instead of selling ready-made tonic. The syrups are made in Dohr, where most of the around 900 products are produced and tested in the in-house laboratory. That a house with roots in wine values acidity and bitterness, you can taste in the rhubarb syrup – it is built on balance rather than sweetness.
The syrup for gin evenings, terrace evenings and everyone who drinks alcohol-free
The rhubarb-apple-thyme syrup is the bottle for everyone who wants more variety in their gin and tonic than a new type of gin. And for everyone looking for a drink in the evening that still tastes like the end of the working day, even without alcohol. As a gift, it fits into any package with a gin, or as a trio with the Pink Grapefruit Tonic Syrup and a third from the range. All tonic syrups and gins are available on our Wajos page.
Unopened, the bottle stays fresh and protected from light for a long time; once opened, store it in a cool place; 200 ml is enough for around ten tonics at two centilitres per glass. The syrup is not suitable for anyone who wants to avoid bitterness in their drink – the quinine is the whole point here, far more than a subtle note.
Rhubarb, apple and thyme with quinine, in a small bottle from the Moselle – the tonic syrup you use to mix your tonic just the way you like it.
