Drinks Guide

TONIC WATER DRINKS GUIDE

Love artisan tonics but baffled by how to use them all? Follow Toast’s easy matching guide for quick cocktail happiness

Here at Toast we’re huge (like, huge) fans of gin and tonic, so naturally we’re all over artisan tonics too. With so many options now though, even we get confused about how to match them.

So we turned to our friends at Fever-Tree, and asked for some guidance on which tonic to pair with which drink…
 

BEST FOR A CLASSIC G&T

Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water: this clean and refreshing tonic will match with any gin, and has light notes of citrus and soft levels of bitterness.

  • Goes with: any gin or vodka
  • Gin and tonic tips: use a large wine glass, coppa or tall glass; add plenty of ice, the gin and Indian Tonic Water, then take a curl of lime or lemon rind, rub it around the rim of your glass and then drop it in the drink.
  • Also use in: a vodka and tonic
     

BEST FOR A CLASSIC VODKA TONIC

Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water: a delicate floral tonic made to pair well with vodka, with ingredients of lemon thyme and rosemary, fresh hits of citrus, and the soft bitterness of quinine.

  • Goes with: vodka, or citrus and herbaceous gins like Lighthouse, Malfy, Gin Mare, Bulldog, Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray
  • Vodka tonic tips: using a tall glass, add lots of ice, pour in the vodka and Mediterranean Tonic Water and garnish with a sprig of lemon time or a curl of lemon rind.
  • Also use in: a gin and tonic (add lemon thyme and a slice of lemon)
     

BEST FOR A ROBUST G&T

Fever-Tree Aromatic Tonic Water: this new tonic is a pretty pink colour, and has star ingredients of quinine, green ginger and bitter orange from angostura bark.

  • Goes with: created to pair with robust juniper-led gins like Portobello Road, Pickering, Boodles, Plymouth, Sipsmith or navy strength gins.
  • Gin and tonic tips: as with the classic G&T above, make this drink in a large wine or tall glass, and using a curl of lemon rind, rub the rim of the lass before dropping into the drink, rather than using a whole slice.
     

BEST FOR A SLIGHTLY SWEETER G&T OR V&T

Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic Water: if you like a slightly sweeter mixed drink, the delicate flavour of elderflower blooms balances out the soft bitterness of quinine.

  • Goes with: vodka, or fresh and floral gins like Hendrick’s, Elephant or The Botanist
  • Drink tips: Fever-Tree recommends using this tonic to make an Elderflower Fizz, by adding fresh ice to a tall glass, pouring in the vodka and tonic, and garnishing with some cucumber and mint.
  • Also use in: gin and and tonics made with floral-style gins
     

BEST FOR A SLOE GIN AND TONIC

Fever-Tree Sicilian Lemon Tonic Water: this bitter lemon tonic water was designed to offset sweeter gins with the soft bitterness of quinine and the mouthwatering bite of Sicilian lemon oils to create crisp, flavoursome drinks.

  • Goes with: sloe gin and sweeter gins like Plymouth and Hayman’s
  • Drink tips: combine fresh ice, sloe gin and Sicilian Lemon Tonic Water in a large wine or coppa glass then garnish with a slice of fresh lemon.
  • Also use with: fresh juices like orange and pineapple
     

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