Fever Tree’s Premium Indian Tonic Water— or more succinctly— Fever Tree Tonic is one of the first wave of “high quality tonic waters” that burst onto the G&T scene in the late 00’s and early 10’s. Now, well established, the Fever Tree brand has spawned a whole line of high quality mixers: a bitter lemon, a light tonic, and an elderflower and Mediterranean herb and botanical flavored tonic water.
But all of this is possible because of Fever Tree’s flagship Fever Tree Tonic. Sweetened with cane sugar and flavored with cinchona from East Congo, Fever Tree’s claim to fame in my opinion, was the quality of their carbonation.
Fever Tree Tonic often has a reputation for not being sweet. Or as sweet as the competition, but it’s important to note that Fever Tree’s Indian Tonic is far from a light tonic. 70 Calories in a 6.8 oz serving size compares favorably to the Whole Foods’ house brand in terms of calories. However, where they can’t compare is in terms mouth-feel. Fever Tree Tonic has the best mouth-feel of all the tonic waters I’ve had, and I find that the effervescence does wonders for delivering the gin aroma to the nose.
Tasting Notes
When pouring, Fever Tree Tonic’s bubbles absolutely erupt. They create a brief lasting head. Looking at it in the glass, you can see an immense amount of carbonation sticking to the bottom and sides of the glass. The nose is sweet orange and sweet lime, with minute bubbles dancing upwards still.
The palate is sweet with effervescent citrus at first. Fever Tree Tonic sits mildly on the palate before an assertive quinine and bitter finish. I find the quinine note in here to be a bit more rounded than others. It has delicate floral edges with no metallic notes to it.
With gin, the Fever Tree maintains its tight bubbles. They lightly amplify the aroma. Mid-palate, what tastes like a bit of a hole in Fever Tree Tonic on its own seems custom designed for the gin flavor to come through. The finish is a nice balance of gin’s notes and a gentle bitterness. I tried it with Seagram’s Gin; citrus notes with orange on the nose and juniper on the finish. In my opinion, there’s no better tonic for showcasing a gin then Fever Tree’s Indian Tonic.
Overall, it’s a well balanced tonic. Certainly detractors might comment on its sweetness; however, to me that’s part of the package. Quinine + Sugar + Effervescence = a good tonic. And fever tree hits all three marks. Even as I personally find myself moving towards less sweet tonics, I still look to Fever Tree as my gold standard in tonic water.
Highly Recommended.
Fever Tree Tonic is available from Amazon, and available in grocery stores often for about $8 / 4 pack of 6.8 oz. bottles.
Thanks for the great post and praise for Fever-Tree Aaron,
We’ll be bringing our 500ml bottle across the pond in the New Year, so keep an eye out for it for when you are in the mood to share! Also, our 4 pack retails at $5.99!
Do join our Facebook page for up to date FT news!
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All the best and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and celebrate with many delicious Fever-Tree cocktails!
Kit Maloney, Sales and Marketing Manager, Fever-Tree
I bought a box of the 150ml cans that were cloudy and had bits in . they were not drinkable.
Great tonic, we use it all the time !!
I cant believe I have not tried this earlier. It was an absolute revelation!! Collins + ice to brim + lemon wedge + 50ml tanquiry 10 + charge with fever tree indian!! FANTASTIC!!
Exactly as described in article!
Wouldn’t these beverages use quinine from the original source which is Perú? There s a whole story about the countess Cinchona cured by the quina bark tissane. How its healing properties were related to the Spanish crown, how England sent buyers of the bark and how it was used to protect it’s imperial soldiers to be protected from tropit diseases on India n neighboring invaded countries. Long quina bark true stories.