Over on the NonToxicated Facebook Group  we love to talk about our favourite alcohol free and grown-up soft drinks. We’ve renamed Tuesday’s as Tonic Tuesday! We ask our members to tell us about their favourite Tonics and we share some of ours and put them to the taste test! We know that many of you like to drink Tonics as a stand-alone drink, as a refreshing alternative to alcohol, but we also know that many of you enjoy mixing your Tonics with some of the low or no alcohol Gins so Lisa got her ‘Tonic on’ and tried the various options.

Here’s the Tonics we’ve tasted in this article:

• Tonic 1 – Co-op Blood Orange Tonic
• Tonic 2 - Morrisons The Best Light Indian Tonic Water
• Tonic 3 - Twelve Below - Apple and Garden Mint Tonic
• Tonic 4 - Morrisons The Best Light Pink Rhubarb
• Tonic 5 - Square Root East London Liquor Co Tonic

The first three Tonics were tasted on their own to see how they stood up as a stand-alone drink then with The Clean Liquor Company’s low alcohol raspberry Gin. This Gin is LOW rather than NO alcohol and contains 1.2% ABV. According to the bottle this is 30 times less alcohol than a standard Gin. The Gin has 26 calories per 100ml and 6.1g sugar.

The last 2 Tonics (Tonic 4&5) were tasted with the Siegfried Wonderleaf (18 botanicals) alcohol free Gin. This Gin has 2 calories per 100ml and 0.g sugar which makes it a great choice if you’re calorie or sugar conscious.

For Reference:

• Just the T– Tonic on it’s own
• T with the G – Tonic with Gin

Tonic 1 - Co-op Blood Orange Tonic

Calories - 23g per 100ml, sugars 4.7g

Fizz Factor

I’d actually opened this Tonic 3 days previous, so I was fully expecting the screw capped Tonic to have lost its fizz but it came bursting out of the bottle - a good start!

Just the T

This Tonic is pleasantly bitter.  It’s described as “made with blood orange and rosemary extract”. It is flavoured with sugar so has none of the aftertaste you sometimes get with artificial sweeteners. The rosemary was not particularly noticeable, the Tonic was tangy, sharp and tasted of citrus -with a slightly pithy orange coming through.

T with the G

I chose this Tonic as I thought the Gin was likely to be sweet and thought the sharpness would balance it out. I mixed it in the classic proportions (50ml Gin to 150ml Tonic) but felt the bitterness overpowered the delicate raspberry flavour. I re-mixed it at 1:1 and 2:1 proportions - the 1:1 had a lovely sweetness but not enough fizz. The 2:1 was perfect for me (but I do have a sweet tooth). This Gin does taste and smell like an alcoholic Gin and is not watery like some. If you are able to drink a little more alcohol than the normal 0-0.5% Gins, then this feels like a real treat!

Conclusion

For me, this Tonic is too bitter as a stand-alone drink but for those who prefer a less sweet beverage, this provides a different bitterness and bite than that found in a standard quinine flavoured Tonic.

Tonic 2 - Morrisons The Best Light Indian Tonic Water

Calories - 2 per 100ml. Zero sugars

Fizz Factor

Another screw cap, nice amount of bubbles on pouring but quickly went quite flat.

Just the T

I like to include a low sugar Tonic for those low carbers. This one has quinine flavouring and is sweetened with sucralose. It’s a sweet Tonic and does have a noticeable “sweetener” aftertaste.

G with the T

After finding that 3:1 Tonic to Gin ratio swamped the Gin with the previous Tonic, I started off with a 1:1 ratio. Even for someone with a sweet tooth like me this was not pleasant. It barely had any fizz and was more like a cordial. I changed the ratio to 2:1 – it still wasn’t fizzy and could barely taste the raspberry over the sucralose flavour. I changed the ration to 3:1  and although this now had some bubbles you would barely know the Gin was there. The lovely raspberry flavour I tasted with Tonic one is missing.

Conclusion

If you are spending £25 on a bottle of low alcohol Gin then mixing it with this Tonic is probably not a good idea as it disguises the raspberry flavour and the “bite of the small amount of alcohol.  It might work ok on its own with a slice of lime to balance the sweetness if you like to drink Tonics as a stand-alone drink.

Tonic 3 - Twelve Below - Apple and Garden Mint Tonic

Calories - 11 per 100ml. Sugars 2.4g

Fizz Factor

This screw cap bottle produced the fizziest of the three Tonics and the bubbles lingered!

Just the T

We were excited to try this Tonic as the flavour sounded very intriguing. It was the first of the Twelve Below Tonics we’d tried. And what a lovely, well balanced Tonic! It’s gorgeous as a drink on its own, the sweetness of the apple was tempered by the bitter quinine and a crisp mint finish. It’s flavoured with agave syrup and is a great choice if you like your sweetness from natural sources. It’s not overly sweet though. With loads of ice and sprig of mint and it would make a refreshing choice all on its own.

G with the T

We chose this Tonic as we adore mint with raspberry (the Clean Co raspberry Gin does have a dash of peppermint oil in it). Proportions wise this worked well at 2:1 or 3:1 Tonic to Gin ratio depending on preference. The Tonic held its fizz well. The minty notes of the Tonic beautifully complimented the fresh raspberry of the Gin. Fancied up with ice and mint, with a handful of raspberries thrown in, this would be a perfect low alcohol combination and the small amount of alcohol in there does make it feel like a real “celebration drink”.

Conclusion

We loved this Gin and Tonic pairing and we’re keen to explore more flavours in both the Clean Gin range and more of the Twelve Below Tonic varieties.

The next 2 Tonics were tasted as a stand- alone drink and also with the Siegfried Wonderleaf (18 botanicals).  I decided to try these Tonics on their own then with the same Gin to see how the G&T pairing worked

Tonic Number 4 - Morrisons The Best Light Pink Rhubarb

Calories - 2 per 100ml.

Fizz Factor

This Tonic had a screw cap so although there was a pleasant fizz on opening, it seemed to go flat quite quickly.

Just the T

This Tonic is very sweet and fruity. Although if I had tasted this blind I don’t think I’d have detected it was rhubarb, I would perhaps have said berry. The quinine flavour was very, very subtle. It’s a pretty, pale pink colour. If you are sensitive to artificial sweeteners you will detect the lingering aftertaste of sucralose.

T with the G

The sweetness and fruitiness of the Tonic did not compliment this particular AF Gin which has a powerful blend of botanicals. The flavours fought each other.

Conclusion

This is a good choice of Tonic if you’re calorie or sugar conscious. It would work on its own, over ice with berries, as a refreshing summer drink. We need to do some further investigations to find a spirit this would work with though.

Tonic Number 5 - Square Root East London Liquor Co Tonic

Calories - 26 per 100ml.

Fizz Factor

This Tonic had a bottle cap and a lovely rush of bubbles on opening. Bubbles dissipated quite quickly.

Just the T

This is a classic Tonic flavour. Nice and bitter with a quinine taste, albeit quite subtle. The label states that it’s flavoured with sugar from beet, coriander seed and lemongrass.

T with the G

When mixed in the proportions suggested on the Wonderleaf bottle (3:1), I found the Wonderleaf was still very strong so added some extra Tonic and this worked well. I actually thought these two were a good partnership. The quinine sharpness cut through the powerful flavour of the Gin and gave it balance.

Conclusion

I think this Tonic would work well with a lot of different AF Gins. It’s flavour is not overpowering so would also work with fruity Gins…it could just do with a few more lingering bubbles!

We hope you’ve found this article helpful and will help you to find some interesting Tonics to drink on their own or with a AF spirit.