When you’re considering which tonic to mix with, you may ask, ‘Can one tonic be that much better than another?’ or ‘Aren’t they all much of a muchness?’ Well, friend, our answer is, there’s much more to tonics than you think.
Some tonics are produced by soft drink companies, without much consideration of their ingredients, which can actually distort the flavour of your premium vodka or gin. Other tonic makers take a far more thoughtful approach to how their ingredients might accentuate the taste of a particular spirit.
For instance, the folks at Fever-Tree go the extra mile to seek the best ingredients from around the world. Founders Tim Warrillow and Charles Rolls’ philosophy is ‘if ¾ of your drink is the mixer, you should mix with the best’. Unhappy with existing tonics, went back through history to source the finest ingredients, starting in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Fever-Tree’s original Indian Tonic’s distinctive quinine is derived from the ‘fever trees’ of the eastern hill ranges of the African nation, where Charles and Tim located one of the only remaining plantations of original Cinchona Ledgeriana trees (called ‘fever trees’, hence, the brand name). And these specific trees produce some of the highest quality quinine in the world.
But Charles and Tim didn’t stop there. They travelled halfway around the world to Mexico to find the right bitter oranges from which to extract luscious botanical oils to blend with the quinine base to add depth and complexity. For the coup de grace, they ensured that Fever-Tree’s mixers were free from artificial sweeteners and colours and used only non-GMO-certified ingredients. The result of these somewhat extreme lengths to seek out the right ingredients is Fever-Tree Indian Tonic, the perfect balance between bitter and sweet for a clean tonic taste that doesn’t ruin the integrity of a top-shelf gin when mixed. In other words, ‘No, all tonics are not created equal’.
