Tonic Water Review: 1870 mixers

I've been waiting to try Silver Spring 1870 tonic for a little while now, but it has been difficult to come by. So, as you can imagine, I was quite pleased when I saw today that my local Waitrose had started to stock both the Regular and Light (diet) varieties. At £0.69 a bottle (1ltr), I thought it was worth a try.

1870 Tonic is produced by Silver Spring of Kent, a company that was founded in 1888 as a mineral water company. They produce the rather tasty Perfectly Clear (a range of flavoured water) and make a variety of own-brand soft drinks for British supermarkets (Morrisons, Asda & Tesco).

According to their website, the 1870s mixer range started to be developed during the 19th century (hence 1870?). The tonic waters are the result of Brazilian Essential Oils being expertly blended with pure sparkling spring water.

The Rather Pleasantly Packaged 1870 Tonic Waters

The Taste

Regular
This had a medium fizz, but was rather artificial in its sweetness and cloying. There was also a harsh, soil-like bitterness. Of the 30+ tonic waters I have tried, this is below average. It improved when gin was added, but still had a cloying aftertaste and lacked any depth of flavour.

Light
There was obvious artificial sweetness form the outset; the kind that sticks to your teeth. This tonic water left a really nasty taste in my mouth. Once again, the taste slightly improved when gin was added (frankly what doesn't?), but this didn't hide the fact that the drink was off-balance and unpleasant. If it hadn't been for the use of Plymouth Gin (a waste on reflection), this would have been one of the worst Gin & Tonics I have ever had.

Upon looking at the ingredients list, it appears that both the Regular and the Light versions of the tonic water contain the artifical sweetener Aspartame. Whilst I can accept its use in a low calorie version, its inclusion in the regular version seems hard to defend. Even if costs were an issue, it should be noted that Waitrose's Regular own-brand tonic water contains no artificial sweeteners and is actually sold for only £0.47 per litre.

In Conclusion
It is unusual that I am overtly negative about a product, but in this case I'd avoid these two products and if you are in Waitrose, buy their brand instead.

Waitrose Tonic is available at around £0.47 for 1 litre (diet and twist of lime and twist of lemon varieties are also available).

Budget Gin & Tonic

THE BUDGET GIN AND TONIC

In the world of drinks there is decadence aplenty; maybe you fancy a £500 dram of whisky or a goblet of wine with the world's largest black pearl dissolved in it? But what about the other end of the spectrum? Can you get a quality drinks for pennies in the pound?

A staple favourite of our readers is the Gin & Tonic and, with £45-a-bottle gins and small bottles of tonic costing upto £2.50, the cost of a single double-measure serving of this beverage could quickly creep to over £4.55—and that's from the comfort of your own home, acting as your own bartender!

So I wondered, was it possible to find a very respectable (and tasty) gin and tonic for less than £1 (that's one hundred new pence). Saving the theatrics, the answer was "Yes".

Here is the solution:

The Gin

Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin (Original)—£10.99 for one litre from Aldi. (100ml = £1.09)

Bottled at 37.5%, it's a good gin and great value for money. On its own it's OK but when mixed with tonic it's a gin that competes with the best of them.

The Tonic

Waitrose Regular—£0.49 per litre (or £2.09 for a six-pack of 250ml cans). (Sometimes this is available in a 3 for 2 deal, giving you even more savings.)

This has a good balance of sweetness and bitterness, and no overbearing artificial taste like many.

So the combination: a good example of a gin and tonic, you have juniper, you have a citrus you have a bitter edge and it is very refreshing. For 60p it is a bargain and you wouldn't feel like you were one step away from the bath-tub gin or cutting your Gordon's Gin by adding more water to make it go further.