Franklin & Sons Elderflower & Cucumber Tonic Water
Two soft flavours in the same bottle, which is the thing to plan around. Elderflower is floral and honeyed, cucumber is fresh and green, and neither has an edge — so the quinine and whatever spirit goes in are carrying the whole structure.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Floral on the nose with the cucumber underneath it, soft and rounded through the middle, and a quinine finish that supplies most of what stops it reading as sweet.
Storage & Handling
Cool and sealed. Cold for service.
Usage
About 150ml over 50ml of a juniper-forward gin. It also suits vodka, where the tonic supplies everything, and it is a good length for a light white vermouth.
Two Soft Flavours
Elderflower is honeyed and slightly muscat-like. Cucumber is green, watery and cooling. Both are gentle, and neither brings acidity or bitterness of its own.
That makes this a tonic with an unusually specific requirement: everything sharp in the finished drink has to come from somewhere else. The quinine does part of it, and the gin has to do the rest.
Why the Gin Choice Matters More Here
With an Indian tonic, almost any gin works because the tonic is assertive enough to hold the drink up. Here it is not, and the gin becomes structural rather than decorative.
A juniper-led London Dry gives the drink a spine. A soft, floral, contemporary gin doubles down on what the tonic already brings and the result is agreeable and shapeless — a drink with nothing to push against.
The Acid Problem
There is no acidic component in the bottle at all, and a long drink without acid goes slack somewhere around the halfway point. It is the same reason a sloe gin drink needs lemon.
A strip of lemon peel, expressed over the surface, is the smallest fix and the most effective. It adds the impression of sharpness without adding juice, which would cloud the drink and take it somewhere sourer than intended.
Serving It
Very cold, in a copa or a highball, over a full glass of cubed ice. Floral aromatics are volatile and this drink is mostly floral aromatics.
Cucumber ribbons folded down the inside of the glass are worth doing if the cucumber is the part you want forward. Slices sitting on top contribute far less than people expect.
Pro Tip
Use a gin with real juniper in it. Both flavours here are soft, and a soft contemporary gin on top of them produces a pleasant drink with no shape — nothing in the glass is holding a line.
Top Tips
- Juniper is the structure. Save the floral gin for a tonic that brings its own sharpness.
- A strip of lemon peel, expressed, does more than a cucumber slice. There is cucumber in the bottle already; what the drink lacks is acid.
- Serve it colder than you think. Delicate aromatics fade first, and this is nearly all delicate aromatics.
Possible Substitutions
- Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic: the floral half on its own
- Fever-Tree Cucumber Tonic: the green half on its own
History & Context
Both halves are old British hedgerow and garden flavours that arrived in cocktails late. Elderflower was a cordial long before it was a bar ingredient and only became one in the late 2000s; cucumber came in through gin garnishing in the same decade. Putting them in a tonic together is a recent idea built on two recent habits.
Common Questions
Which gin works best with it?
A juniper-forward London Dry. Both flavours in the tonic are soft, so the gin is providing the structure. A floral or cucumber-led gin doubles up and the drink loses its shape.
Does it need a garnish?
A strip of expressed lemon peel, yes. There is no acidity in the bottle and a long drink without any goes flat in character. Cucumber is already there and does not need adding.
Is it sweet?
It reads soft rather than sweet. The quinine dries the finish, but there is nothing sharp alongside it, which is why the lemon peel and the gin choice matter more than usual.
Often Used With
Guide by Jerry Can Spirits