Franklin & Sons Ltd Natural Indian Tonic Water

Franklin & Sons Ltd. is a London base soda company in operation since the 1880’s. Their line of tonics include Ecuadorean sourced cinchona bark and Staffordshire Water *. Also Franklin & Sons Ltd Natural Indian Tonic Water is sweetened with sugar. They also claim to have the most carbonation possible, which is music to my ears**.

Tasting Notes

Slight lemon lime nuance on the nose, but with a particularly active effervescence.

On the palate, you can really perceive the small, tight texture of the bubbles. They pop quickly on the tip of the tongue, an fade in short order. Very clean palate with only a slight citric hint leading into a pleasantly bitter finish. The finish, albeit short, captures exactly the crisp, dry, palate cleansing note that a good tonic should have.

Franklin & Sons Ltd Natural Indian Tonic Water is only moderately sweet as well too, giving it a rather smooth flavor, never too cloying.

Mixing Notes

I really like the effervescence and how it interlaces with the gin notes. It seems to lift the botanical character of the gin, giving a pleasant fizzy juniper buoyed nose. The fizz, with its early presence quickly gives way to a mid-palate center piece that showcases the gin. The finish is clean and slightly bitter, but Franklin & Sons Ltd Natural Indian Tonic Water knows its role. It’s well designed to support and showcase what you pair with it. It doesn’t steal the show.

I think that Franklin & Sons Ltd Natural Indian Tonic Water pairs well with nearly any gin, but particularly nice gins that you want to drink neat or make nice cocktails with. This tonic water doesn’t have enough character of its own to obscure a mediocre gin.

Overall

Franklin & Sons Ltd Natural Indian Tonic Water is a really nice, well made tonic water that is highly recommended to gin and tonic drinkers. Unfortunately it’s only available in the European market right now, so American and otherwise gin drinkers will have to wait.

*This simply appears to be a municipal water system with reservoirs located in Staffordshire. I can’t find anything specific attesting to its particular quality, though I suppose there’s something to being British made with nearly all British sourced ingredients, save the tropical tree which can’t grow in the British Isles.

** I’m a press the sodastream button as many times as possible sort of guy.