Every year thousands of shiny new drinks products make their way into the market. Some are terrible... some, taste great but look awful, many are the other way around. Some are plagued by poor marketing budgets, and others hit hard due to massive marketing budgets; regardless of whether the product is any good or not.
BTW Tonic Syrup is none of these. It does not conform to stereotypes, which is also true of the product itself. BTW is nothing short of spectacular - a ray of sunshine in a crowded marketplace full of the 'next big thing'.
BTW Tonic Syrup is riding the wave of the increasing popularity of gin and prohibition-style Cocktails and drinks. You can't blame its creators - it's just so versatile and so damn tasty.
I first encountered BTW at Imbibe Live in July this year, and it was the standout product for me at the whole show. God knows how it's taken me so long to write about it.
I let my bartenders loose with it a couple of days ago, and we also took into account BTW's recommended serves. Here's what we thought...
Basically, it's good. Really good. And versatile. And tasty. Forget what you think you 'know' about tonic - it's bitter, orangey, a little tart and a little sweet. It's so close to a classic tonic, you almost have to make excuses to drink it.
BTW recommends a ratio of 1 parts tonic syrup with 2 parts gin and 6 parts soda - me and my fantastic bartenders found this to be too weak. Fair enough this might make for a classic G&T, but that's not why you would buy BTW - it's so you can experience something different.
The drink is far more special when diluted in only 3 parts soda with 2 parts gin and 1 part BTW. They also recommend adding the BTW after the gin and soda over Ice.
We found it to be amazing in a 'Deep South' take on a negroni, using bourbon, maple syrup and a dry vermouth, in equal measures. Wowser!
BTW reckon that the applications go further, with it being the perfect ingredient in gin and tonic truffles, but also a vesper martini - which we'd actually have to agree with:...
BTW Vesper Martini
40ml Gordons
20ml Vodka
5ml Lillet Blanc
10ml BTW
Shake hard and strain!
Here's our take on the Gin & BTW:
50ml Half Hitch Camden Gin
25ml BTW Tonic Syrup
75ml Soda Water
We garnished with a piece of dried orange, but we're blessed with a dehydrator. Best just shove a piece of orange peel in and then shove it down your neck as slow as possible (which will be very quick).
You can get your filthy paws on a bottle of BTW from Master of Malt for the reasonable price of £18.31, which will make you 20 of my recipe G&T's. It's great with most gins, but we used Half Hitch, because of its orangey, earl grey notes! Also available from Master of Malt for £39.95
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