Tonic - It Matters

There are so many brands of tonic water available now that choosing one to use in your Gin and Tonic can be daunting.

Choose the wrong one and the disappointment you experience with your cocktail will be profound.  So profound even that you could suffer an aversion to G&Ts in future.  Imagine how awful that would be! 

A Gin and Tonic is a classic and easy cocktail.  It is simple, light and refreshing but it will only be as good as both the Gin and the tonic you choose. 

Nonesuch Dry Gin, with plenty of Juniper up front and great citrus notes, has your choice of Gin solved. 

But, as the tonic makes up the majority of the drink, your tonic choice is critical.  

So how do you make sure your tonic doesn’t turn the Gin you love into one you don’t? 

• Obviously it’s a question of personal taste but generally, the more complex the gin the less complex your tonic should be.  Let your amazing craft Gin be the hero of your Gin and Tonic.
• Don’t distort the careful balance of the Gin with a tonic loaded up with a bunch of flavours that don’t compliment the botanicals in the Gin.  Minimalism can be good.
• Always use freshly opened tonic. That bottle you opened last week (or even yesterday) may still have a bit of fizz but it won’t have the same liveliness. The flavours become dull and tired.
• Keep your tonic in the fridge. It really does need to be cold.

So, to the question we are always asked.  What tonic do we prefer?

In our Dry Gin we favour the Capi Dry Tonic or Fever Tree Premium Indian Tonic.

The Capi Dry Tonic (from Daylesford in Victoria) has plenty of fizz and a slight bitterness while the fever tree is more lightly carbonated and has just a hint of sweetness.   Both allow the gin botanicals to shine.

Finally, don't let tonic snobbery lead you to discount Schweppes.  It might be the most mass produced but no product survives for over 150 years unless it is good.
This is more carbonated than most tonics, including the Capi and Fever Tree, and has a slight sweetness but you still get the bitterness of the quinine.  This one works in just about any style of gin so that versatility makes it one to keep on hand.

Cheers