Fever Tree Raspberry and Rhubarb is sweetened with sugar and includes natural raspberry and rhubarb flavorings to achieve its signature flavor. The color is from a combination of natural ingredients including sweet potato, carrot, safflower and lemon.
This tonic water is available in European markets, such as Norway where I found this bottle.
Tasting notes
Color: Vivid. It has a hue of bubblegum pink to it, but transparent.
Aroma: Raspberry candies
Flavor: Candied raspberry throughout. It starts with candied raspberry and segues into a more complex melange of candied berries— particularly blackberry with a hint of orange.
It’s quite sweet in impression, though it is only 30 calories per 100 mL serving. I’d say it tastes even sweeter than that with the raspberry candy dominating throughout.
Finish: Faint hint of quinine and bitterness— you have to look for it though. It’s a shame because a bit more tonic in this tonic water could really give it some balance. Or perhaps a touch more rhubarb. It’s really mostly about the berry.
Mixed: In a gin and tonic, it surprisingly leave a bit more room for the gin to shine. I was surprised when I tasted juniper, angelica and coriander all cutting through the sweetness.
While the raspberry was present, it did not overwhelm. However, there is a important caution here. If you mix your G&T with a heavy tonic ratio (>4:1) it’s going to be all raspberry and taste like a cloyingly sweet pink gin.
In a more balanced ratio— say 2:1— the gin is able to shine through and the tonic water’s sweetness becomes a nice counterpoint to the gin. It enables the drinker to make a gin and tonic that brings the best qualities of a pink gin, but on their own terms.
I’d rather mix my own gin of choice with some Fever Tree Rhubarb and Raspberry Tonic Water to create my own optimal ratio, than buy an already sweetened pink gin.
Overall, Fever Tree Rhubarb and Raspberry Tonic Water
The tonic water that will appeal to the DIY home drinker who would rather create their own berry-flavored pink gin than buy an already mixed one.
However, overall it’s a bit too one note. The raspberry is overwhelming and can come across as a bit cloying. It desperately needs some more bitterness to add balance— in fact I would recommend mixing Fever Tree’s Indian Tonic Water to your next Rhubarb and Raspberry G&T to balance things out.