I don't know about you, but I love bitter lemon. Ever since I bought my first 6-pack of Schweppes Bitter Lemon, I've been hooked. For a long time, it was really hard to find, but in the last couple of years, we've seen it quite often. Sometimes I drink it alone, and sometimes I substitute it for tonic water in a G&T. I often describe it as a blend of tonic water and lemonade, and its refreshing.
This summer, a new bitter lemon came to Chicago (Fever Tree), so I had to try it. And then this fall, I found another one (Stirrings) when I was visiting downstate Illinois. So it seemed to be high time for a review & tasting of bitter lemon (I can't tell you how excited I am to have more than one to try!).
With our 4-person tasting panel (my father-in-law is still here), we tasted these today. We tried them on their own, over ice, with vodka and with gin. As with our tonic tasting, we had a variety of opinions. Here's a general summary:
Fever Tree - three of us liked this one best on its own, with ice and with vodka. Its a bit lighter on quinine and overall flavor than the other two. It has a very fresh, genuine lemon flavor along with some nice herbal notes and a touch of quinine. With gin, only one of us liked it best (that was me). Others felt it was too light for gin.
Schweppes - one of us liked this one best on its own, with ice, and with vodka. It has a nice balance of lemon flavor and quinine, and like the tonic water, the quinine is actually accentuated by ice. The lemon is less fresh and natural compared to the other two. It worked well with the gin too, but only one us picked it as the favorite.
Stirrings - As with the tonic, this seemed to be a love it or hate it for our little tasting group. Two of us picked this as best with the gin, while the other two of us picked it as worst. On its own, with ice and with vodka, it was never chosen first, and sometimes chosen last. It has more flavor than the others, perhaps more quinine than Schweppes, and stronger herbal notes. To me, it tasted a bit like Sprite with some ginger & anise thrown in. Others tasted the ginger and earthy spices.
Anyone seen any other bitter lemon sodas out there? I just got my hands on some of the Dry Sodas, so I'm looking forward to trying those.
Since I didn't have to go to class today, we decided to conduct our taste test of Q Tonic. All of us were excited to try this new tonic, which we had heard and read about but not tasted. We decided to compare it to the other tonics we have on hand, Fever Tree, Stirrings and the ubiquitous Schweppes.
We have a special guest with us today, my father-in-law, so we had 4 people on our tasting panel this time. As before, we tried the tonics on their own, with our vodka and with our Distiller's Gin No. 6 (of course).
What did we think?
Our reviews of Q were mixed. We all liked it with the vodka, but most of us (3 out of 4) did not like it with the gin - it seemed to bury the gin too much and created some off notes on the palate. On its own, it is fresh tasting and light, with a moderate amount of quinine (Schweppes has more).
All of us still really liked the Fever Tree, and we found that when we adjusted the proportions, we could get a bit more of the gin to shine through. It was very fresh tasting, complex and not too sweet. It seems to have a bit more quinine than Q. Everyone ranked it 1st or 2nd with both the vodka and the gin.
With the Stirrings, one of us felt it was too sweet and therefore did not like it. However, two of us liked it best of all the tonics with the gin, loving its fresh citrus notes and its pairing with the gin. The Stirrings was the sweetest of the bunch, and was light on the quinine.
None of us picked the Schweppes as the best. We did like it better than other major market brands when we tried it before, but we like these new brands better.
Some conclusions:
- Tonic water is a matter of personal taste - they vary on quinine, sweetness and other flavors
- Tonics really do vary, they are not interchangeable
- Tonics perform differently with different spirits, so you have to try them out with what you want to mix with - we picked different tonics as best for different spirits
Please chime in if you have any tonic experiences to share!
One of our favorite meals in San Fran was at Nopa. The place came highly recommended from our new friend Gabrielle at Bourbon and Branch (another great cocktail bar we had visited on Friday night), and boy was she right. We arrived around 11 pm Saturday night, and we sat at the bar. Shortly after arriving, we met Neyah White (-->), the fantastic mixologist behind many of their libations.
Great Cocktails and New (to us) Spirits
We tried a couple of cocktails at Nopa, including The Last Word (Green Chartreuse, gin, maraschino and lime), as well as a classic Sazerac (with Wild Turkey) - both were very good. We then moved on to searching the bar for bottles of things we had not seen before (one of our favorite pastimes, especially when traveling). I tried a bourbon called Hancock's Reserve that was very nice, and made by the fine folks at Buffalo Trace. Derek ordered a classic Manhattan, and Neyah introduced us to a new vermouth - Carpano Antica. It was fantastic.
We tried some homemade bitters (loved the Sunshine bitters with saffron & cardamom) and talked about other classic cocktails with Neyah and Paul, the very nice gentleman sitting next to
us. With our dessert (an intriguing warm apple & cheddar crisp with reggiano gelato), Neyah poured a Angostura 1919 rum, which we had also never seen before (why don't we have those in Chicago?).
And Future Adventures...
At the end of the night, Neyah graciously let us leave with bottles of two things we'd not seen in the flesh before - Q Tonic and Cock 'n Bull ginger beer. Look for future posts on this elusive tonic that had been missing from our earlier review, and of this original brand of ginger beer! I feel a Moscow Mule coming on....
One thing I realized is that we really do need to travel more and see what's happening in the cocktail culture outside of Chicago. There are amazing flavors, products and cocktails that haven't made their way here yet!
Although for some, fall marks the end of G&T (or V&T) season, I occasionally whip out the tonic water in the fall and winter when I'm in the mood for a crisp, bubbly drink. For a long time, there haven't been many options for tonic water - mostly Schweppes, Canada Dry and some private label brands (and that's still what you'll find at most stores). This summer, we found two new tonic waters in Chicago - Fever Tree and Stirrings. We also heard rumors about Q Tonic coming here, but we've not seen it yet (their website says we can ask for it at our local Whole Foods). We had a staff meeting (all 3 of us) earlier this summer to taste these new tonics with the big brands, as well as another older one we found and hadn't seen before (White Rock).
So what were the results?
All 3 of us thought that the Fever Tree and the White Rock were better than Schweppes and Canada Dry. White Rock had more citrus notes, Fever Tree had more complexity and spices. The Stirrings tonic was love-it or leave-it. One of us loved it, one thought it was too sweet, and one thought it was good on its own but not good with our Distiller's Gin No. 6 (too overpowering). Here are a summary of our findings:
Brand: White Rock
Nose: Very light, almost non-existent
On its own: Light flavor, less quinine, with tart & sweetness in mid-palate
With North Shore Vodka (you knew we'd use our own!): Light flavor, perhaps too light, but refreshing
With Distiller's Gin No. 6: Best of the Bunch - balanced and light, the gin shines through
Brand: Fever Tree
Nose: Light, citrus, fresh
On its own: Fresh, with light quinine, citrus and herbs
With North Shore Vodka: Best of the Bunch - Fresh and refreshing, with complex flavors
With Distiller's Gin No. 6: More complex flavors, with fresh citrus notes and a variety of spices
Brand: Stirrings
Nose: Citrus, sweet
On its own: Fresh, sweet, with light quinine
With North Shore Vodka: Sweet and fresh tasting, citrusy
With Distiller's Gin No. 6: Fresh and sweet, No. 6 is less present in the taste
Brand: Schweppes
Nose: Citrus, a bit sweet
On its own: Light citrus with a touch of quinine
With North Shore Vodka: Quinine more pronounced when mixed, balanced tart & sweetness
With Distiller's Gin No. 6: Quinine more pronounced, nice tartness with a mid-palate sweet note
Brand: Canada Dry
Nose: Citrus, a bit sweet
On its own: Sweet and salty, with a touch of quinine
With North Shore Vodka: Quinine more pronounced when mixed, seems a bit salty but balancedWith Distiller's Gin No. 6: Quinine more pronounced, seems a bit salty but nice tart & sweet notes
Each of us had our favorites, but the White Rock and Fever Tree scored well with all of us. We’d definitely recommend conducting your own tonic experiments – you might be surprised by the results! Do you have a favorite tonic that I've not mentioned, or have you tried Fever Tree, White Rock or Q Tonic? If so, what did you think? It took me two months to get any info from the White Rock people, so I'm thinking it isn't very available out there.
If you're a fan of interesting tonic waters, one of our favorite restaurants (and beverage gurus) has started serving their own house-made tonic water. If you haven't been there already, you should go to Custom House and try Tim Lacey's tonic water (and the other amazing cocktails you'll find).
And for some other blogger comments on tonic waters from this summer, check these out
With our 4-person tasting panel (my father-in-law is still here), we tasted these today. We tried them on their own, over ice, with vodka and with gin. As with our tonic tasting, we had a variety of opinions. Here's a general summary:
