Schweppes Slimline Tonic, 12 x 150ml

Product Information

Glass bottle looks premium. Flavour is marmalade-y and bittersweet, with no artificial sweeteners. Could do with more fizz but a great workhorse.

For reasons of hygiene and safety, personal grooming products, cosmetics or items of intimate clothing cannot be returned. For value, it pays to look for the price per 100ml. Smaller cans and glass bottles are usually more expensive: Schweppes nearly doubles in price when you buy it in cans. But other brands’ cans offer good value: Aldi’s Ridge View works out cheaper in cans than in a large glass bottle. And larger bottles may be a false economy if you end up throwing the last third away when it goes flat in the fridge. From an environmental point of view, aluminium is endlessly and easily recyclable (unlike plastic) and lighter to transport than glass, so it seems like a good bet. Tastes like slimline – I can taste the sweetener. Very dry and pretty citrussy. Sherberty fizz, rather than big bubbles. I’m not so keen on that. The standard version is very citrussy. You’d need a strong gin to stand up to it. No bubbles. I’d like some lemon. The acid-drops fragrance whets the appetite for this sharp, lemon-water flavoured tonic. Not very bubbly or complex, but a clean citrus taste and nice bitter balance, not sweet.

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Gin and tonic is as British as strawberries and cream – one of those combinations that really come into their own in summer. Gin’s recalibration from granny to groovy over the last decade may have made it the drink of choice year-round, but a G&T sundowner in the garden on a warm evening is still one of the quintessential flavours of the season. Unwanted Food or Drink Products - Once supply conditions are broken, there are a number of factors outside of our control that can affect the quality of a product. Therefore perishable goods such as food and drink cannot be returned. Not enough fizz, quite citrussy. Can’t make up its mind whether it’s a soft drink or a tonic water. Not sweet, not bitter. Mild. Good for a subtle gin. The only tonic I tried that contains juniper distillate. It’s highly flavoured, but with no depth or length; the taste is muddled and confected. Disappointing. Good, instant fizz, almost sherberty. Delivers a nice dry bitterness; sweet without being overwhelming. Flavour is well rounded.

This has fermented botanical extracts which sounds posh, as well as a huge 7.7g sugar per 100ml. It tastes slightly soapy, almost medicinal, and dries the mouth a bit – all of which works OK with tonic water, but you wouldn’t want to drink this on its own.By and large, the “premium” tonic waters want to be seen as natural. That may mean they use “natural” flavourings, although that translates simply as “of natural origin” – they may be far removed from the strip of lemon zest that you might imagine. According to Dr Chris Van Tulleken, in his new book Ultra-Processed People, artificial sweeteners may also contribute to weight gain. “A sweet taste in the mouth prepares the body for sugar. If that never arrives, it’s a problem,” he writes, adding that there’s evidence that they may actually decrease our insulin response (something seen in Type 2 diabetes) as well as damaging our gut bacteria.