Thomas Henry Tonic

Based in Berlin, Thomas Henry Tonic take inspiration for their company name from the English gentleman and pharmacist, Thomas Henry, who in 1773 produced the worlds first ‘fizzy drink’ by enriching water with carbon dioxide in Manchester, England and in the process gave birth to soda water!

Thomas Henry have been creating drinks since 2010. Starting out as bitter lemonade experts, they have been slowly adding to their range of high quality drinks ever since. They draw on  quality products to create their range of drinks and use spring water from Bad Meinberg in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Hot, humid and full of mosquitoes: gentlemen were breaking into heavy sweat in the tropical colonies of the British Empire, and not infrequently they went down with malaria. Water with quinine from the bark of the cinchona tree (cinchona pubescens) helped. The drink was bitter, much more bitter than today. In colonial India, people came up with the idea to make the healthy drink palatable with gin. This way, the Gin & Tonic was born! Even today, the natural quinine creates a noble bitterness for our Thomas Henry Tonic Water, delivering a mature taste experience.

Bitter is the new sweet, and with Thomas Henry Tonic Water we bring it to perfection. Its particularly high quinine content and subtle floral citrus aroma are key for its refreshing taste. Mature, unique, pure enjoyment. Our tonic water makes a subtle yet substantial difference in the classic Gin & Tonic and many other long drinks. It’s all about commitment!

They have opted for a very simple design for their bottles, which they use across the range by simply changing the colours for the various drinks. The pairing of bottle top to the label colour is a nice touch and I also like the embossed TH and stars on the bottle neck. On the back of the bottle, the information is fairly limited due to the size of the label but there are all the nutritional facts and a few lines about the creators. It’s nice to see they display very clearly that the product is ‘Vegan And Naturally Gluten-Free’. I also found it quite amusing that they state the bottle is non-returnable!

I did attempt to discover what was involved in making this tonic water, but information was quite hard to come by other than what they state on their website and the bottle, which is that ‘natural flavouring’ and ‘quinine flavouring’ are involved in the process.

Smell: A pleasing citrus aroma gives way to a darker, more earthy smell.

Taste: It is a very mild, light tonic with a pleasant amount of sweetness which is balanced with a bitter, zesty citrus palate.

In a G&T: I have found this to be quite a good tonic for light and delicate gins which suffer from a very aromatic tonic. By contrast, I find it a bad choice for stronger gins with bolder flavours.

Overall, this is a very useful tonic to have at your disposal. There are certainly tonics out there with higher quality and better ingredients, but I personally enjoy this tonic and will continue to keep it well stocked!

You can find out more about Thomas Henry drinks over at www.thomas-henry.com