RECIPE: SUPERSONIC

Another seemingly simple drink that needs to be tasted to be understood. And a drink we've been on a personal journey with over the past decade or so. 

One of team Woven (Duncan) used to work for a well known cucumber infused Gin brand in the capacity of GLobal Ambassador. A tough gig that involved flying to two global cities per week consuming copious amounts of gin and tonic. Concerned for his health and not trusting the spurious claims regrading the benefits of cucumber - it dawned on him that cutting down his weekly intake (of tonic) was probably a good idea. So Gin and Soda became the order of the day. As anyone who's jumped in good faith from Tonic to Soda hoping it will taste the same can tell you - it's a massive disappointment at first. You crave the bracing bitterness of citric acid and quinine sharpness that tonic waters boast. Even the bubbles feel different. Everything tastes wetter. So, Duncan would reward himself from time to time with a hybrid solution - gin with equal measures soda and tonic. Half the sugar... some? of the taste! 

For clarity - we're not claiming Duncan invented the serve; this was just his experience of it. Anyway - after aclimitising - it turned out that this slightly wishy washy tonic like soda solution became his preffered taste. Real tonic tastes way too intense now. Then, partly due to the success of the gin category - but also partly just due to the fact it's just a flavoured mixer - tonic starting showing up as a credible mixer for whisky. 

If you have not tried a whisky and tonic then you must. It works especially well with lovely fruity speyside whiskies and presents a really refreshing highball varient. Playing around with Garnish is always a good idea and we've had great success converting gin drinkers to whisky by giving them familiar cues in glass and garnish (and mixer!). THe complexity of whisky stands up against the complexity of tonic. If you find the right combination (just like gin) you can make 1+1=3 in true alchemical fashion. 

Anyway - here's the recipe for our SUPERSONIC. 

We've specified a couple of brands. See our SUPERSODIA post for the rationale behind this obscure Spanish sparkling water brand. And we've opted for Schweppes tonic as it's the fizziest, sharpest and seems to really work well with Superblend's orange and spicy notes. We're big fans fo Fevertree too. 

Ingredients: 

SUPERBLEND 50ml

SODA WATER 75ml (Vichy Catalan)

TONIC WATER 75ml (Schweppes)

Method: Make everything cold. Build ingredients in an ice filled Highball. Stir gently. Garnish with an orange zest.