Q Tonic vs Schweppes
Posted by Arctic Wolf on August 3, 2014
Two and a half years ago, I published a comparative review of Schweppes Tonic versus a new upstart Tonic water which had just entered the Alberta market, Q Tonic.
It all started when I was visiting one of my favourite Liquor Stores, (Lacombe Park Spirits in St. Albert if you want to know), when Karim, who is one of the owners, asked me to try a Gin and Tonic with a new Tonic Water he had started to carry called Q Tonic.
I let him make me a small sample cocktail, and it was pretty good. In fact, I was intrigued enough to make contact with Jordan Silbert, the founder of Q Drinks and asked him if he would like to send me a sample and some information, especially as I had began to receive quite a few a few gin samples to review and a premium Tonic water seemed like a good idea.
My thought was that it would be fun to make some side by side cocktails with Q Tonic and Schweppes Tonic to see if I preferred one over the other consistently. Jordan agreed, and I received a few small bottles of Q Tonic in the mail shortly before Christmas. This was good because the gin samples were beginning to pile up, and I wanted to get at them.
So with four different gins, Beefeater 24, Citadelle Reserve, Port of Barcelona and Broker’s Gin, I set out over the next couple of weeks to test the Gin and Tonic Cocktail with both Q Tonic and Schweppes Tonic.
I published the results of this exercise in January, 2012 and you may read those results by following the provided link:
Comparative Review: Schweppes Tonic VS Q Tonic
Although my Schweppes vs Q Tonic comparison was published over two years ago, I thought it appropriate to revisit this publication as a sort of teaser for my next project, the Gin and Tonic Challenge! Throughout the month of August I will be examining about 15 different Gins I have collected in an effort to find the Best Gin for the quintessential summer cocktail, the Gin and Tonic.
Stay tuned ….
5 Responses to “Q Tonic vs Schweppes”
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David said
I agree, Q Tonic is very delicious. I found out that a local Save-on-Foods close to me has them in 4-packs, but they are so expensive!
Arctic Wolf said
Yes Q Tonic is much more expensive than Schweppes. For myself much better, tastier Gin and Tonic is worth the extra expense. This is of course a personal choice.
Ryan Tycholas said
You should consider trying Fentimens tonic (supplied by Global Wine Merchants) as well as Fever Tree Indian Tonic water. Those are the other premium tonics in Alberta and I would love to see a side by side comparison!
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Arctic Wolf said
Hi Ryan
I would love to compare all three premium Tonics, however Fentimen’s and Fever Tree have been very illusive so far. Perhaps if I keep working at it, I will have another summer project after this one. (I hope so)
Arctic Wolf said
By the way, after speaking with Manuel of Global Wine, I have learned they have discontinued the distribution of Fentiman’s in our market. It is already hard to find, and will disappear by fall. 😦