Aaron Knoll

In 1905 Thomas Fentiman received the recipe for a ginger beer as collateral. Over a century later, the Fentimans brand has a whole range of sodas and tonic waters. Fentimans’ tonics are more herbal than others and almost all of them are delicious as sodas on their own. But with gin, they can be assertive, … Read more

Best consumed: With an unaged juniper forward gin  Incredibly well balanced, with plenty of citrus, spice, and bitterness to make the perfect gin and tonic. One of our favorites, and an excellent pairing for nearly all gins, but especially classic styles with a heavy juniper head.  We’ve reviewed Bradley’s Kina Tonic ([icon name=”star” class=””][icon name=”star” class=””][icon … Read more

Price: $6  pack of 4, 10 oz. bottlesBest consumed: Contemporary or classic style gins that could benefit from a hint of added citrus flavor in a Gin and TonicSweetener: Cane SugarAvailability: Online or your local high-end groceryRating: A well executed high-end tonic that hits all the expected marks but doesn’t really innovate much on the formula. … Read more

Ruby D’s Citrus Quinine Tonic takes their main tonic syrup offering and subtracts some of the herbs and spices and instead veers in a totally different direction with citrus zest and citrus oils. It’s part of a series of tonic syrups which instead of cultivating a following based around catering to one subset of the tonic … Read more

Russet in hue, Haber’s Hibiscus Spicy Hibiscus Tonic is the more floral offering to complement their primary offering Haber’s Tonic. Crafted in my very neighborhood, I’ve seen Haber’s locally at a few bars and small local stores. I included their tonic in my tonic syrup giveaway this past fall, and when I did, they sent … Read more

Price: £3.00 / 4 bottlesBest consumed: With a good classic style gin.Sweetener: Cane SugarAvailability: As Lemon Tonic in Europe, as Bitter Lemon statesideRating: For a bitter lemon, it accomplishes the goals set out. Heavy with the citrus, with plenty of tart, literal lemon juice notes, it feels less balanced than other bitter lemons, partially because of … Read more

Price: $8/ case of 4, 200mL bottlesBest consumed: With a juniper/floral forward gin.Sweetener: White and Cane SugarAvailability: Internationally and in some US States.Rating: 3/5 Indi & Co. Botanical Tonic Water may look like your standard bottled tonic water. But there’s some interesting process going on in the bottle. The Spanish brand actually distills the ingredients … Read more

Price: $1/ LBest consumed: With any gin that you enjoy with tonic.Sweetener: High Fructose Corn SyrupAvailability: Amazon.comRating: 3/5 Polar is a brand widely available in New England and the Northeastern United States that has a widely devoted following, in particular for their seltzers. Polar has been making seltzer since 1882. Like many soda brands, they … Read more

Freeway Tonic Water is the store brand for the Lidl chain of supermarkets. I found this one while I was staying in Helsinki. Technically, the first thing that surprises me is that the sweetener is sugar. You rarely see that stateside, especially with some of the more inexpensive tonics. Secondly, this is incredibly inexpensive. I … Read more

Before I tried a Finnish Long Drink, I was baffled by the grape tonic I saw on the shelves in Helsinki. After having the Finnish Long Drink, I got it. Contrary to the name, the flavor is grapefruit and not grape. The color and opacity is similar to grapefruit sodas like Squirt. Tasting Notes Slight … Read more