Price: $8/ case of 4, 200mL bottles
Best consumed: With a juniper/floral forward gin.
Sweetener: White and Cane Sugar
Availability: Internationally and in some US States.
Rating: 3/5
Indi & Co. Botanical Tonic Water may look like your standard bottled tonic water. But there’s some interesting process going on in the bottle.
The Spanish brand actually distills the ingredients in their tonic water. The ingredients are macerated for several weeks before the essential oils are extracted through distillation and being combined with sugar and carbonated water.
Secondly, a closer look at the list of ingredients reveals some surprises. First, Seville orange, lemon and lime peel. Then cardamom and quinine. Finally, Kalinji and Kewra.
Kalinji is the oil of black cumin (also known as black caraway) which is often consumed because of its purported health benefits. The seeds have been said to taste like a combination of onion, pepper and oregano, or used as a black pepper substitute.
Kewra is a fragrant perfume flower extract of Middle-Eastern tradition. The smell is suggested to be a combination of rose and honey. In addition to perfume, it’s used as a sweetener in some Asian food cultures.
Sadly, both of these are for naught. You may get subtle suggestions of either when you drink the tonic water on its own, but I can’t get any of these intriguing notes out once you mix it with gin.
Tasting Notes
Light lemon/lime nose. Clean and crisp.
Tight bubbles on the palate, but relatively few of them. The fizz seems to dissipate a bit too quickly. Clean citrus mid-palate with a good deal of lemon and lime again. Finish is crisp and cleansing with a subtle, but persistent, quinine bitterness. I like when the bitterness endures but doesn’t come on too strong.
Mixed with gin, it adds a lovely lemon and lime soda note, while imparting a crisp clean dryness to the finish. Simple and straightforward, but well executed.
Overall
With all of the novel botanical ingredients and the unique process, it’s almost a let down that Indi & Co. Tonic Water is nothing more than a well executed citrus-forward tonic water with a pleasant bitterness on the finish. It’s subtle enough to let the gin shine through, which for botanical tonic waters can be something of a rarity. Overall, I’d love a bit more fizz, but it’s a good tonic water worthy of a closer look for those who like a slight citrus color for their G&T. Leave the lime/lemon at home, Indi & Co. has got it covered.