Panic buying seems to transfer easily to many products-- now that a quinine-related drug had some good press as a potential treatment, I can't find tonic water anywhere (except some really weird brands at like $12 for 4 small cans or bottles... Apparantly a gin boom has given rise to some niche high end tonic water too)

I noticed that ginger and turmeric became totally unavailable in Ireland two weeks ago (which was when the government started telling people to work from home if possible and introducing restrictions). I suspect because people have been claiming (incorrectly) that they help with coronavirus. They're back now, but it really doesn't take much change in consumer behaviour to cause shortages.

Sucks for people whose favorite cocktail (much needed in these times) is a gin and tonic. Especially because the niche high end tonic waters are usually rubbish for a G&T. Luckily I've got a bag of cinchona bark i've been meaning to make tonic out of for a year or so now...

Does tonic water even have a theraputic dose of quinine anymore?

It's a therapeutic dose of gin that people really need right now.

Depending on your state, liquor stores may or may not be classified as essential businesses exempt from the mandatory lockdown.

> Does tonic water even have a theraputic dose of quinine anymore?

It never did. It's poorly soluble in water, that's what the gin was for. If it's not pre-mixed, your tonic water has a negligible amount of quinine.

So if I was going to make an authentic, “Englishman wearing a pith helmet and trying not to get malaria”-style gin and tonic, how would I go about that?

Also, I thought the gin was for making the tonic water palatable. The tonic water I’ve had is pretty awful by itself and the gin definitely brings something to the table in terms of moderating the flavor. I have to imagine that any tonic that actually worked would taste even worse.

I think limited to 20mg per 12 oz now, so way too little for malaria treatment I think. Maybe it has some preventative effect at that dose?

There's probably not much of a stockpile for those in the first place. They would sell out quickly on any increased demand.

The Google Trends chart for "bidet" seems to reflect this as well: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=bidet&geo=US

In a bind, you can cobble an emergency bidet / ass wash together from a bottle of water with a hole in the cap.

Or jump in the shower.

*walk-in bidet