The largest citrus fruit in the world, and the oldest. The flesh is pale yellow, less acidic than grapefruit, less sweet than orange - a clean, fragrant bitterness with floral depth underneath. The pith is thick and dry. The oil in the skin is aromatic and precise. Nothing about it is aggressive. It asks you to pay attention rather than demanding it.

In the glass it reads as zesty and fresh on the nose, vegetal and crisp on the palate. The kind of citrus that enhances without announcing itself. Every citrus fruit you've ever tasted is, in some sense, a smaller and later version of this one.

One of the four original citrus genomes, and the strangest looking fruit on the planet - bright chrome yellow, finger-like protrusions, no flesh, no juice, almost entirely pith and zest. The whole point of it is the oil. Rich, floral, intensely fragrant -it contributes a soft oily texture and depth that no other citrus can replicate. In the tonic it sits underneath everything else, giving the palate a weight and roundness that keeps the drink from feeling thin.

You won't find it in many tonics. It doesn't behave like normal citrus, which is exactly why it's here.

Part papeda, part mandarin, cultivated in East Asia for over a thousand years. The flavour sits somewhere between grapefruit and mandarin, with a floral bitterness that's distinctly its own. It doesn't taste like any other citrus. In the tonic it contributes pithy, clean bitterness that works alongside the quinine rather than competing with it. Two different bitter notes that complement rather than double up. The result is a finish that's complex without being complicated.

Without quinine there is no tonic water - only soda with citrus. Quinine is the bitter backbone that defines the category, and the reason the G&T exists at all. Not all quinine is equal. The cinchona tree has dozens of species. Only one produces quinine in any concentration worth using: Cinchona ledgeriana, cultivated in Java in the 1860s specifically for its yield.

Veranda uses Cinchona ledgeriana from Bandung. The bitterness it produces is refined and precise - not harsh, not heavy. It defines the finish and leaves the palate dry, clean, and ready for the next sip. That's what three hundred years of doing one thing looks like in a glass.