Firstly, some of you might recognize this as a store brand of tonic. And you might wonder “why on Earth would I be reviewing this?”
To that I shake my head. If you ignore store brands, you miss out on some surprising things. Write off store brands, and you write off the actually-pretty-good 365 Tonic Water from Whole Foods. So naturally, after having this tonic at a party the previous weekend [while I was drinking mind you- it was the house tonic in the party tent] I thought I would give this previously overlooked tonic its due and I quickly picked up two bottles…. At the price point of 79 cents, how could I go wrong?
Let Me Count the Ways
Firstly Vintage Tonic is a bit too sweet. Although there is requisite quinine in here, there’s a bit of a mouth puckering syrupy-sweet note, vaguely reminiscent of store brand colas, in the way that the don’t have the “bite” or “sharpness” that Coke or Pepsi do. It tastes less carbonated [and this was the first serving] than similar inexpensive tonic waters.
I should say that in tonics that cost less than 2 dollars per liter [Canada Dry, Schweppes, Polar, etc] I don’t expect complexity, depth, or even balance. I hope for a slightly sweet soda with some quinine flavor. What you get here isn’t quite that. It’s an overly sweet, slightly bitter, and overall disappointing tonic water.
Sure, I didn’t notice at the fiesta. I was too busy having a good time: dancing, singing [yes, singing], eating food etc. [Even Gin Bloggers take nights off!]. So it can be said without a doubt that tonic waters like this have a place [such as when you need to quench the thirst of a hundred of your closest family and friends] and other times where I’d recommend splurging for the Canada Dry or similar. Even at double the cost it’s worth it to upgrade a bit.
Price: ~.80/Liter
Best consumed: With inexpensive party gin. If you’re drinking some of the gins I talk about on here, I’d recommend at the very least trading up to the Canada Dry level.
Availability: Most grocery stores
Rating: A little to sweet and not enough quinine for my tastes. Treat it as a party supply and nothing more.