Las Vegas Weekly

The new West’s outlaws

The era of bootlegging ended long ago, but true cocktail aficionados will tell you if you want something done right, sometimes you gotta do it yourself.

Tobin Ellis and John Hogan of BarMagic Las Vegas wanted a tonic water worthy of today’s superior new (and revered classic) gins. But, says Ellis, “ninety percent of commercial tonic water is crap.” So they make their own. Hogan & Ellis Outlaw Brown Tonic will soon be available everywhere spirits snobs are tippling. Testing Outlaw out last week, Downtown Cocktail Room’s George Sproule combined 1.5 ounces of the tonic with Plymouth gin and a half-ounce of lime, shook and strained it into a 10.5-ounce glass and topped it with soda water. The result? Delish.

“This is the real deal—the original recipe for genuine tonic from 150 years ago,” Ellis says. “And unlike commercial tonic waters ... Outlaw Brown uses only 100 percent natural ingredients ... [and] there are a lot of health benefits from drinking it. Yes, healthy cocktails. I said it.” And we heard you.