Hamish Smith rounds up the results from our tonic water assessments.
Let’s face it, for a skinny product to win in a full-call category, it’s got to be good – Double Dutch's Tonic Water was just that, with our panel congratulating it on its “light and crisp style, quinine character and effervescence”. That almost did enough to make it a gold medal (finishing a point off) but that was the standard achieved in the design round – and when the price was revealed and it was time to assess value for money. All in all 85/100.
In second was the new Double Dutch Sun & Sea Tonic Water, which too took a high silver medal on taste (“herbaceous”, “floral” and “good bubbles”). Again, the looks of the new bottle were admired – gold came the medal – and the value for money commended. Gold too.
Making it a top-three clean sweep of the tonic podium was Double Dutch’s Indian Tonic Water, which took 37/50 on taste (“refreshing”, “not overly sweet”, “good body”) – with consistent marks for packaging and value for money as its stablemates.
But it was Franklin & Sons’ two entries that topped our taste metric, with Premium Indian Tonic taking 41/50. Our panel said it was “bittersweet, herbaceous with great citrus”, “great balance and body”. The brand’s Rosemary & Black Olive took the best score of the tonic tasting – 42/50.