If you ordered a gin and tonic in a bar ten years ago, you’d almost always get what you’re given. Even if there were a few different gins to choose from, there simply weren’t any good quality tonic waters or mixers for bartenders to offer their customers.
Fast forward to today and there are dedicated bars, specialist shops and even festivals celebrating the UK’s newfound love for everything gin. While the spirit finds its way into exotic cocktails, it’s still the G&T that we turn to the most. And with a greater variety of gins, we now have top quality tonics to choose from – something Fever-Tree started back in 2005.
It all began when Charles Rolls – the man behind Plymouth Gin – teamed up with advertising executive Tim Warrillow to create a mixer worthy of all the new, exciting gins cropping up across the UK.
‘When Charles and Tim discovered that the majority of mixers were full of preservatives, cheap lemon aromatics and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharin, they set out to change the status quo,’ says Saskia Meyer, marketing director for Fever-Tree. ‘Determined to create the world’s first all-natural tonic water that complemented the spirit rather than overpowered it, they embarked on a series of trips to seek out the highest quality ingredients. After all, if three-quarters of your drink is the mixer, it should be just as good quality as the spirit it’s paired with!’