The union of good food and drink make a merry feast—better still, to surprise your guests with a twist on the traditional nog and toddy.
We often overindulge at christmas time, stuffing our bellies with tasty fair and drinking our fill of intoxicating refreshments—but the cheer is soon replaced with digestive discomfort and the need for a noon-nap!
To ameliorate these side-effects consider serving a tonic with your turkey. Fever Tree produce artisan tonics made with medicinal herbs and botanicals which are both refreshing and restorative.
The story being the brand name
Quinine is the key ingredient, and the essential bitterness, in tonic water. The brand name Fever-Tree was chosen as it is the colloquial name for the cinchona tree, the bark of which produces quinine. After much research, a specific type of fever tree plantation (known ascinchona Ledgeriana) located on the Rwanda/Congo border, was found to be producing the purest quinine in the world. For Fever-Tree founders Charles and Tim, there was no other option but to source Fever-Tree’s quinine from this plantation—the only drinks company to be doing so.
How the brand begun
Following a ‘tonic tasting’ in 2000 to find the best on the US market, Charles Rolls—who had built his reputation running Plymouth Gin—joined forces with Tim Warrillow, who had a background in luxury food marketing, to analyse the composition of mixers. The pair discovered that the majority of mixers were preserved with sodium benzoate or similar substances, while the use of cheap lemon aromatics and artificial sweeteners (such as saccharin) was widespread – a combination that was affecting the tasting experience and driving customers away from the sector. So, in 2004 they began creating mixers using natural and fresh ingredients – eleven years later they have a range of twelve mixers stocked in over 50 countries around the world.
Why it is successful and its main point of difference
Fever-Tree mixers are crafted with the finest and most authentic natural ingredients, sourced from every corner of the globe, to ensure all Fever-Tree products reflect the highest quality and supreme taste.
The quinine is sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo, from the original Cinchona trees, known as fever-trees. Lemon extracts are sourced from the world’s finest lemons grown on the fertile slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily. These oils are predominately used in perfumes, but ensure the Lemonade has a unique, citrus tang. Bitter orange oils are traced from Zygoma, Tanzania and lemon thyme and rosemary are sourced from La Drôme, Provence. Three types of gingers are sourced from three different locations: Fresh Green Ginger from the Ivory Coast, as well as Nigeria and Cochin to help create the exotic flavours in the Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer.
The drinks are highly carbonated to deliver the delicate botanical aromas and ensure premium freshness and the perfect amount of fizz in all mixers. The drinks are topped with small elegant bubbles for a smoother and more intense taste to enhance the flavours of the paired spirit. By replacing cloying saccharin sweeteners and artificial preservatives—usually seen in mainstream mixers—with natural botanicals and flavours, Fever-Tree have ensured the delicious mixers will complement and enhance the world’s finest spirits. After all, if three quarters of your drink is a mixer, that mixer had better be good.
The values that guide the brand
A commitment to using natural and fresh ingredients guide the Fever-Tree brand and the premium mixers they create. Inspirational ingredients used in these premium mixers include quinine sourced from the last remaining plantation of fever trees in the heart of war torn East Congo, some of the world’s finest lemons grown on the fertile slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, Fresh ginger from the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cochin and Lemon Thyme and Rosemary from La Drome, Provence in France.
These natural, premium ingredients ensure Fever-Tree’s insistence on great taste is guaranteed. Charles and Tim have travelled to some of the most remote, beautiful and sometimes dangerous regions of the world to source the highest quality natural ingredients from small specialist suppliers.
Reasoning behind ethical sourcing of unique ingredients
An interest in the composition of mixers led Charles and Tim to the realisation that the majority of mixers were preserved with sodium benzoate or similar substances, while the use of cheap lemon aromatics and artificial sweeteners (such as saccharin) was widespread – a combination that was affecting the tasting experience and driving customers away from the sector.
An insistence on great taste is at the heart of Fever-Tree, with the team committed to sourcing only the world’s finest ingredients from small specialist suppliers to make its premium range of mixers. By doing so Charles and Tim can ensure Fever-Tree stands apart from its competitors, boasting a taste second to none.
The creative reimagining of traditional tonics
Fever-Tree have launched flavoured tonics, which are reimagining the uses and versatility of tonics water. The three new tonics, adding to the Indian, Mediterranean and naturally light are lemon, aromatic and elderflower.
Aromatic tonic: By blending the gentle bitterness of South American angostura bark with aromatic botanicals such as cardamom, pimento berry and ginger, we’ve created a delicious, unique tonic water. Created to enhance juniper-rich and robust gins, this tonic can be enjoyed in a Pink G&T or as a sophisticated soft drink on its own.
Elderflower tonic: Offering a light and subtle character, the delicate and sweet flavour of elderflower is perfectly balanced by the soft bitterness of the quinine. Providing a summery twist to the classic gin and tonic, the refreshing floral flavour works equally well as a sophisticated soft drink.
Lemon tonic: Sicilian Lemon Tonic is our name for Bitter Lemon. One of the most sophisticated mixers invented, this delicious drink has been ignored by the major drinks companies for years and many now have no idea what it is or how to drink it. By blending the highest quality Sicilian lemon oils with our signature quinine from the Congo, we’ve restored the taste and quality of this fantastic mixer.
Discover the full range or Fever Tree Tonics: www.fever-tree.com
