Franklin & Sons Premium Indian Tonic Water
Franklin & Sons’ tonic, which names cinchona bark extract on the label rather than hiding the quinine inside a flavouring, and takes its sugar from English sugar beet. It runs marginally sweeter than Fever-Tree’s Indian tonic.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Classic tonic register: genuine quinine, citrus keeping it bright, sweetness in service rather than charge.
Storage & Handling
Cool, sealed, cold for service, small formats always.
Usage
Poured at 150ml to 200ml over 50ml of gin. It comes in 200ml and 500ml bottles and in 150ml cans, and the can is the one worth knowing about, since it chills faster and travels better than glass.
Cinchona Bark on the Label
Most tonics list quinine inside a general natural flavouring and leave it at that. Franklin & Sons name cinchona bark extract separately on the ingredients, which is a small transparency and a real one, because cinchona bark is where quinine comes from and the phrase tells a buyer what form it takes. The rest of the list is short: sparkling water, sugar, citric acid and natural flavours. They state there are no artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners or preservatives in it.
English Sugar Beet
The sugar is named as English sugar beet, which is an unusual thing for a mixer to specify. Beet sugar and cane sugar are chemically the same once refined, so the claim is about provenance and supply chain rather than about taste. It sits alongside the gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian statements as part of a general willingness to say what is in the bottle. Whether it changes the drink is doubtful. Whether it tells you something about the producer is not.
Against Fever-Tree
The two benchmark tonics sit closer together than brand loyalty suggests, and the numbers are worth having. Franklin & Sons runs at 34 kcal and 7.9 grams of sugar per 100ml, and Fever-Tree’s Indian tonic at 30 kcal and 7.4 grams, so this is marginally the sweeter of the two rather than the drier. Fever-Tree name their quinine’s origin in the Congo, and Franklin & Sons name the extract’s form instead. Both are well made, and the difference in a finished gin and tonic is small.
Formats and Serving
Bottles come in 200ml and 500ml, and there are 150ml cans, which is the format worth noting. A can chills faster than glass, survives being carried, and holds its carbonation until it is opened, which makes it the better option outdoors or for a single drink away from a fridge. Otherwise the usual applies: ice to the top of the glass, gin, and tonic poured down the side rather than over the top of it.
Pro Tip
The two benchmark tonics on this site are both correct: choose by the gin's nationality of spirit, or by which story you enjoy telling.
Top Tips
- Read it as marginally sweeter than Fever-Tree, not drier. It carries 7.9 grams per 100ml against 7.4.
- Buy the cans for anything outdoors. They chill faster and hold their carbonation better than glass.
- Look for cinchona bark on the label. Most tonics bury the quinine inside a general flavouring.
Possible Substitutions
- Fever-Tree Premium Indian Tonic: the parallel benchmark
History & Context
Tonic water is a Victorian British invention, and Franklin & Sons were bottling in 1886, which makes their tonic a continuation rather than a revival. The modern premium-mixer era, Fever-Tree's 2004 challenge onward, brought the category home to houses like this one that never left.
Common Questions
How does it compare to Fever-Tree tonic?
Closer than brand loyalty suggests. Franklin & Sons carries 7.9 grams of sugar per 100ml against Fever-Tree’s 7.4, so it is marginally the sweeter of the two. Franklin name cinchona bark extract on the label where Fever-Tree name the quinine’s Congolese origin. The difference in a finished drink is small.
Is the 1886 heritage real?
1886 is the founding date Franklin & Sons give for the business, and it appears on their branding rather than on the tonic’s ingredients. Treat it as the company’s own claim about itself, which is what a heritage date on a label usually is.
Which gins suit it?
London Dry, where the quinine has juniper to meet, and heavier botanical gins that need something to push against. A delicate floral gin can be covered by it, as it can by any full-sugar tonic, and generally reads better on a lighter bottle.
Is it gluten free?
Yes, and it is vegan and vegetarian as well. That is worth knowing across this range, because Franklin & Sons’ brewed ginger beer and their 1886 cola both contain barley malt and therefore gluten, while the tonic and the ginger ale do not.
Guide by Jerry Can Spirits