There’s not denying we are in the eye of a gin storm at the moment. But I’m not here to talk gin today…

Mixers. Tonic waters, flavoured tonics, soda, ginger ales, colas, lemonades – it’s getting interesting out there. Particularly the flavoured tonics.

Clearly, as we know, Fever-tree are, quite rightly, still out in front. Reporting it’s recent results a couple of months ago, it reached a record value of £4.5 billion, only four years after it’s first stock market flotation back in 2014.

Their latest “Refreshingly Light” range has seen a revamp of nearly their entire range, bringing it down in sugar content by using fruit sugars. Presumably due to the Sugar Tax here in the UK. This seems to have crept in, rather than making a big song and dance about it. By the way, I still think they taste awesome.

So FT seem pretty untouchable…or do they?

Let’s look at some of the other contenders. In most events I do, people are already looking for an alternative to Fever-tree, as their perception seems to be that it’s now too mainstream.

Second in the race, in my opinion is Franklin & Sons. Boasting a huge range, including an outstanding selection of soft drinks – below, and their new “Epicurean Collection”- which I’ll be sampling another time, stay tuned!

Next of the runners up are Double Dutch. Pioneers of the flavoured tonics in my opinion. For me, they have the right balance of flavour, carbonation and sweetness. Absolutely delicious mixed and on their own. I regularly use their Skinny Tonic for tasting new Gins as it’s a great base.

Finally, for overall mixers, Fentimans is still proving incredibly popular, and quite rightly so. Their Rose Lemondade is a firm favourite for many as an alternative to Tonic water, along with their Ginger Ale.

It’s worth mentioning Schweppes – as their relatively new 1783 range is getting out there, and it a real improvement from the previous offering. I hope it continues to grow as I personally like the brand and the latest selection is great. It will be interesting to see what other products they have lined up.

Also, while talking Schweppes, Merchants Heart have some banging tonics too – you may have seen me using these a fair bit this year in my posts.

There are of course loads of other tonics and mixers I haven’t mentioned, and I will try and write about them another time. Question I want to leave you with is, are you Premium Tonic all the way? Or do you think the standard/supermarket own-brand is better/sufficient? Let me know!

TGL