Page 5252 femailMAGAZINE
by Mandy
Francis
with a spiced tonic, you should
find something you enjoy.’
For best results, she says, pour
one third gin and two thirds tonic
into a large red wine or ‘copa’
balloon glass (a wide-mouthed
glass allows you to inhale and
better savour the aromas of your
drink). Fill with plenty of ice, as
the more cubes you add, the
more slowly they will melt and
dilute your drink. Give it a couple
of quick stirs and you should
have a perfectly balanced G&T.
But can any of the odd new
tonics match the simple original?
We put them to the test...IT’S LIKE SUCKING
AN AFTER EIGHT
Peter Spanton Beverage
No 4 Chocolate Superior
Tonic, £1.05 for 200ml,
ocado.com
A Blend of mint and
dark chocolate essences
with bitter quinine and
sharp citrus. The
manufacturers say you’ll
‘love it or loathe it’ and
they’re right. Imagine
sucking an After eight or
perhaps a Mint Aero while
sipping bitter tonic water. It may
be weird, but it works better than
you might imagine with gin, and
comes into its own with dark
spirits such as rum and brandy.
definitely an acquired taste. 3/5A PINCH OF SALT ON
SHERBET LEMONS
Schweppes 1783 Salty
Lemon Tonic Water,
£7.50 for 12 x 200ml,
ocado.com
THIS lemon and quinine
tonic is sweeter than you
would expect, with a
powerful sherbet lemon
flavour. The lemon is
enhanced by a dash of sea
salt — about an eighth of ateaspoon in a 200ml
bottle — and the flavours
meld well. Schweppes
recommend mixing this
with floral or aniseed-fla-
voured gins, but it works
with my supermarket own-
brand, too. Very nice. 5/5NO HIGH — BUT A
HINT OF CANNABIS
BumbleZest CBD Tonic
Water, £2 for 200ml,
bumblezest.co.uk
THIS amber-coloured
tonic is flavoured with
bitter quinine like normal
tonic, plus lemon, ginger
and cinnamon, with a
dash of maple syrup and
5mg of eU-law compliant
CBd (cannabidiol), a
compound found in cannabis.
With no psychoactive properties,
so it’s legal and won’t get you high,
CBd is believed to have relaxing,
anti-inflammatory effects. This is
less sweet than some, with the
equivalent of a teaspoon of sugar
in a bottle, and has ginger and
cinnamon notes (you can’t taste
the CBd). delicious on its own or
with citrussy gins. 4/5MAKE MINE A GIN
AND ESPRESSO
Thomas Henry Coffee
Tonic, £1.20 for 200ml,
31dover.com
eSpreSSo coffee poured
over ice and tonic water
has been a popular
summer drink on the
Continent for years, so
this combination is notquite as ‘out there’ as it might
sound. Made with smooth
cold-brew coffee, the bronze-
coloured mixer has a powerful
roasted coffee flavour and tangy
acidity, though for me the flavour
is a bit peculiar. Best mixed with
gin or liqueurs with bitter or
herbal notes, or dark spirits such
as rum. 3/5A BLACK
OLIVE BOOSTER
Franklin & Sons
Rosemary Tonic
Water with Black Olive,
£1.29 for 200ml,
drinksupermarket.com
THe gentle rosemary
aroma and the bitterness
of the subtle black olive
notes and bitter quinine
here are designed to
work well with citrussy
Mediterranean flavoured
gins and sweet vermouth.
This is sweet, sophisti-
cated and delicately
herbal, the perfect gin
and tonic pairing for an alfresco
Italian meal, but with no massive
flavour punch. 3/5A PARMA VIOLET
PEOPLE-PLEASER
The Artisan Drinks Co
Violet Blossom Tonic,
£26.95 for 24 x 200ml,
mastersofmalt.com
IF yoU like parma
Violets sweets, then you’ll
almost certainly love this.(^) Violet, elderflower and
apple blossom add pow-
erful floral notes to this
pretty, lilac-coloured
tonic that looks great in
the glass and can be drunk on
its own.
Ideally, though, mix it
with a dry, citrussy or floral
gin so it’s not too sweet-tasting,
and perhaps top with an
edible flower for a unique
summer tipple. 4/5
A WHIFF OF BASIL
IN EVERY BUBBLE
Double Dutch
Pomegranate and Basil
Premium Mixer, £1.19 for
200ml, drinksuper
market.com
A Very unusual, dry-
tasting summer mixer.
There is no bitter quinine
in this. Instead, its natu-
ral flavours are fruity, but
not too sweet. you can
taste the jammy pomegran-
ate, but the overriding note is
woody, peppery basil. refreshing
on its own with lots of ice or with
gins with herbal notes. 3/5
TRUE TASTE OF
THE WILD WEST
Sea Buck Tonic, £1.30 for
200ml, drinkfinder.co.uk
THe juice from sea buck-
thorn berries that grow
wild on salt-lashed sand
dunes along the Cornish
coast has been added to
this gold-coloured tonic,
along with carbonated
Cornish mineral water
and quinine. The tonic
has an unusual citrus taste
without being excessively bitter.
It’s a lovely colour too. Classy —
and goes well with any gin. 4/5
LAVENDER IN
YOUR LIVENER
Harvey Nichols Orange
and Lavender Tonic
Water, £1.50 for 200ml,
harveynichols.com
THIS is really nice. The
traditional quinine-laced
tonic water taste is
softened by gentle orange
and lavender flavours.
With a delicious honey
aroma, it will enhance any
basic gin as well as those with
citrus or floral notes. The perfect
mixer for a warm evening. 5/5
THE WONDER OF
WILDFLOWERS
Fentimans Botanical
Tonic Water, £1.90 for
500ml, Sainsbury’s.co.uk
A GenTly sparkling tonic
infused with flavours
including hyssop, lime
flower, myrtle leaf and
white jasmine flowers, all
rounded off with a hint of
quinine. It’s a sweet, sub-
tle floral tonic with lime
notes that works best with
citrus and herb gins. 4/5
D
eSpITe the arrival of so
many wonderful craft
gins in recent years,
most of us still drink the
stuff in one of two ways:
with tonic or slimline tonic.
After all, it’s easy — and it’s hard to beat
the refreshing fizz of a good G&T.
But with gin sales doubling in the past
two years to a record 73 million bottles,
soft drinks makers have decided they
should try to get in on the action. Most of
what you’re drinking in a G&T is the T,
after all.
They have come up with tonics in a
variety of unusual flavours, from
cannabis extract to salty lemons,
coffee and black olives.
So can a carefully crafted ‘artisan’
tonic water really turn basic supermar-
ket gin into a classy cocktail? or is
adding violet or basil to your favourite
tipple a recipe for something revolting?
Gaz Jones, of Schweppes, says: ‘Just
taste the tonic before you add it to gin. If
you like it on its own, you’re
probably on to a winner.’
Clementine Beech, gin expert
at Craft Gin Club, says: ‘Some gin
and flavoured tonic combinations
may clash horribly, but if you try to pair
like with like — a herb-infused gin with a
herbal tonic, for example — or aim for
classic flavour pairings like a citrus gin
WE TRY
BEFORE
YOU BUY
Anyone for gin
and chocolate
Never mind posh gin – now it’s mixers that
have seen an exotic explosion of flavours
(^) Daily Mail, Thursday, August 1, 2019
mint tonic?