Franklin & Sons Rosemary & Black Olive Tonic Water
A savoury tonic, which is a genuinely unusual thing. Rosemary and black olive over cinchona bark extract, with the carbonation pushed up and the sugar pulled back. It is closer to a dry vermouth in intent than to a fruit mixer.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Herbal and briny before it is bitter, with the rosemary sitting on top and a dry, faintly saline finish where a fruit tonic would leave sweetness.
Storage & Handling
Cool and sealed. Cold for service.
Usage
About 150ml over 50ml of a herbaceous gin, reposado tequila or a good vermouth. It is a mixer that suits being the second-loudest thing in the drink rather than the length on top of a spirit.
A Savoury Tonic
Almost every flavoured tonic moves towards fruit or flowers. This one moves the other way, and that single decision is what makes it worth having on a shelf that already holds three tonics.
Black olive is the surprising half. It brings a faint salinity and a soft, slightly oily depth that reads as savoury without ever tasting of tapenade. Rosemary carries the top end and does the work most people notice first.
Why Salt Belongs in a Drink
A trace of salinity suppresses bitterness and lifts aroma, which is why a pinch of salt improves a grapefruit drink and why saline solution sits behind many bars. In a tonic it means the quinine reads as dry rather than as harsh.
That is also why the drink can carry less sugar than a standard tonic without tasting austere. Sugar is one way to soften quinine; salt is another, and it does not add weight.
What to Pour Into It
Herbaceous gins are the obvious partners — anything leaning on rosemary, thyme, bay or sage will meet the tonic halfway. A purely juniper-led London Dry works but leaves the herbs unaccompanied.
Reposado tequila is the more interesting choice. The barrel softness and the agave pepper both sit comfortably against brine, and it makes a drink most people will not have had before.
Vermouth is the third route, and arguably the best value. A bianco or a dry vermouth lengthened with this is a complete aperitif at a fraction of the alcohol of a gin build.
Garnish
Olives on a skewer, a rosemary sprig clapped once, or a strip of lemon peel expressed and discarded. All three extend what is already in the glass.
Lime is the mistake to avoid. It is sharp enough to flatten both the herbs and the brine, and the drink collapses back into a fairly ordinary gin and tonic.
Pro Tip
Garnish it savoury or not at all. An olive or a rosemary sprig belongs; a wedge of lime does not, and citrus acid pulls the drink back towards an ordinary G&T.
Top Tips
- Skewer an olive rather than reaching for citrus. The brine picks up the olive note instead of covering it.
- It suits vermouth better than most tonics do. Fifty millilitres of a bianco with this on top is a complete drink.
- Choose a gin with rosemary, thyme or bay in it. Juniper alone leaves a gap where the herbs should meet.
Possible Substitutions
- Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic: herbal rather than savoury, and sweeter
- Dry vermouth with soda water: a different route to the same savoury register
History & Context
Tonic water spent a century as one flavour, then a decade as twenty. The premium-mixer era opened the category to citrus, florals and fruit, but almost all of those went sweeter. Savoury is the road less taken, and it arrived alongside the low-intervention aperitivo drinking that made olives and brine respectable in a glass again.
Common Questions
Does it actually taste of olives?
Not in an obvious way. The olive reads as salinity and a soft savoury depth rather than as a recognisable olive flavour. The rosemary is the note most people identify first.
Which gin should I use?
One with herbs in it — rosemary, thyme, bay or sage. A juniper-only London Dry works but leaves the tonic doing all the herbal work on its own.
Is it very bitter?
Drier than most tonics rather than more bitter. The salinity softens the quinine, which is why it carries less sugar without tasting austere.
Often Used With
Guide by Jerry Can Spirits