Well folks it’s about time. What you say? You’ve heard of this one before? Unless you’ve been living under a gin and tonic rock, you know about Fever Tree’s quite excellent line of tonic waters, in particular their Mediterranean. Supposedly, it’s designed to be the cleaner and more refreshing alternative, one that is design for … 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
Tassoni is an Italian tonic water that has two unusual botanical takes— first for its citrus flavor— then again for its bitterness. Tassoni uses natural citron in addition to citric acid. Citrons have an incredibly thick rind, which is primarily the part that’s eaten (the minute quantity of pulp is dry rather than juicy). The … Read more
Double Dutch was founded by Dutch twins Raissa and Joyce de Haas. Disappointed at the pace at which mixers have kept up with the increasingly open-to-experimentation spirits industry, they worked with bartenders, experimented with flavor pairing and tested on family to come up with a line of mixers of which Double Dutch Cranberry and Ginger Tonic … Read more
Timberline Tonic Syrup opts for a fairly straightforward approach. In essence they take a historical approach. Before tonic water, the tonic in a gin and tonic was quinine powder. Thus the rather simple ingredient bill of Timberline Tonic Syrup. Eschewing much of the citrus and spice elements others add to create a unique flavor, Timberline is … Read more
Iceland may be a small nation, but it punches well above it’s weight in terms of gin. In others words, there’s a lot of good gin being distilled in Iceland. Glacierfire is the first craft Icelandic tonic maker, and Glacierfire Botanic Tonic Water is one of six(!) in their lineup. Firstly, all of Glacierfire’s tonic … Read more
The definition of what “Tonic” is has expanded* significantly in the last couple of years. I would place this expansion squarely within the trend of “making it yourself” and the healthy skepticism about about “what IS in our food?” What exactly IS in Tonic Water? Often times High Fructose Corn Syrup and very little that … Read more
Here, two emergent trends in tonic collide: first, the trend towards tonic syrups: concentrated, sweet, herbal concoctions designed to be diluted with soda water before drinking. The second trend is that of “companion” tonics: that is tonics made by distillers, crafted in such a way that it perfectly compliments the spirit. Pinckney Bend has designed … 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
Fentiman’s Light Tonic is their lower calorie variation on their Fentiman’s Tonic. But it’s not just a direct variation. True, it sticks to sugar as the sweetener, but the herbal infusion includes juniper, makrut lime leaves and the botanically brewed part features the former two plus lemongrass as well. Fentiman’s Light tonic is a paltry … Read more