Skip to main content

Fentiman's tonic - is their reputation well deserved?

I came across quite a lot of products. Many of those have a good reputation, however you should maybe not watch too closely.
When it comes to tonic water, it seems that this game is at its best.

There are the traditional products- 'traditionally' using a lot of artificial and highly processed stuff. Yes I look at you, Schweppes and Canadian Dry! 

And there is the 'artisan stuff' like Fevertree and Q-tonic.

There are also the wannabes like Thomas Henry - which is really very much like the traditional stuff dressed in new cloths.

And.... there is Fentiman's.

Let's make not a secret out of it: the traditional stuff is not as bad (in taste) as most craft bartenders would like to see them.
And the artisan stuff is not as good as everyone hopes.
And the wannabes are... well not as good as the disappointing artisan stuff but definitely as good as the traditional stuff (but more expensive). 

But what is about Fentiman's?

You can't make a joke about- The guys of Fentiman's have a great reputation. Yeah you can say, that they have the best reputation in the industry!
Instead of making just conventional soda, they brew all their products - as I could extract out of a conversation with John Power, the new distributor in the UAE (now I've already blew the news - Fentiman's is now away label in the UAE) it is based on a ginger-bug ferment. Their products are definitely unique.

After a taste test neat and with Gin Mare I can say, that the tonic is unique - very unique.
It really taste great! 
Without the gin, definitely the Kaffir lime leaf is sticking out. Other than some other products, it doesn't reveal easily, that it is fermented- I found it very clean and crisp.

Given, that tonic water of different brands are pretty similar (be honest), it is without direct comparison the most unique product around.
With gin, it highlights the botanicals - especially the resin'y and spicier botanicals (it is quite surprising, that while it has such a pronounced taste of kaffir, it doesn't over power citrus- but then, I haven't used lime or lemon in my tasting). It is really awesome. The G&T becomes more grown up, more complex - just more enjoyable.

The bottle is a tiny 125 ml bottle. And here comes my criticism: while it might be a good measure for 30 ml of gin, it is too small for e.g. 45 ml (which should be the standard measure of G&T's).
At more than AED 3 it is also not cheap. Is it worth it? Yes, definitely.
But personal,y I would wish, that they keep the price and increase the bottle size to minimum 150 ml - even better 180 ml- this would be also enough for double shots!

I have to cover the other Fentiman's products in another post- but I can already say here, that I have a mixed feeling about them. At times the "brewed taste" is just too pronounced (for me personally). Others are just amazing...

Back to Fentiman's tonic: what are your experiences with it?
Please comment below!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution!  But when Chris, over at A Bar Above  discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez

King Robert II Vodka

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re