Again, the cocktail show hit the road for the weekend. My friend happened to pick up a new Tonic Syrup that I had not yet had the pleasure of tasting. There’s a great story about who Jack Rudy was. I won’t ruin it for you, but suffice to say that you can’t help but smile … Read more
Occasionally, it takes me a while to get around to getting a review up. I’ve had this wonderful bottle of tonic syrup chronicled in my notes for some time. I unexpectedly received another bottle very recently which prompted me to look in my notes and realize [to my chagrin] that I have not written about … 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
Elderflower is a popular flavor in gin and tonics. Take note that we’ve reviewed Fever Tree’s Elderflower Tonic Water before. And we’ve reviewed Jack Rudy’s Elderflower Tonic Syrup before. Elderflower has been referred to (sometime pejoratively) as the “ketchup of the cocktail world.*” Bottle Green Elderflower Tonic Water is squarely within that space. But let’s … Read more
Double Dutch’s line of tonic waters launched a short couple years ago and they’re among those looking to compete with established names like Fentiman’s and Fever Tree. The brand’s founders are two Dutch Twins* who sought to pair good spirits with good mixers. Double Dutch Skinny Tonic Water is one of an emerging category of … Read more
Mary Pellettieri— co-founder of La Pa Pavia beverages, creators of the Top Note line— began her career at Goose Island Brewery. She then worked at Coors. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that on the label for Top Note Indian Tonic Water she borrows from the world of beer to describe it: “The IPA … Read more
Ed. Note— the name of this product may be offensive to some readers. I’m using the official name of the product because that is what it says on the label, but will refer to the ingredient by its more common name, Makrut Lime. For more on why I choose this terminology with gin’s international audience, Wikipedia has … Read more
Firstly, some of you might recognize this as a store brand of tonic. And you might wonder “why on Earth would I be reviewing this?” To that I shake my head. If you ignore store brands, you miss out on some surprising things. Write off store brands, and you write off the actually-pretty-good 365 Tonic … Read more
If you’ve been living (and drinking perhaps) under a rock the past five years, let me catch you up. Elderflower. It’s big in cocktails. It’s big outside of the cocktail world, and it’s especially big within and in gin. Need I remind you of Knockeen Hills Elderflower Gin? If that’s not enough for you (or … Read more
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