Franklin & Sons Sicilian Lemon Tonic Water
Lemon tonic with the carbonation pushed hard. The lemon is doing something a wedge on the rim cannot: it is dispersed through the drink rather than sitting in one part of it, which is why a lemon tonic tastes more consistent than a tonic with lemon added.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Bright lemon on the nose, quite sharply carbonated, with the quinine arriving late and drying a finish the citrus has already lifted.
Storage & Handling
Cool and sealed. Cold for service.
Usage
Roughly 150ml over 50ml of gin, sloe gin or vodka. The acidity makes it the tonic to reach for when the spirit is sweet, which is why it suits liqueurs better than a plain Indian tonic does.
Lemon In It, Not On It
A wedge of lemon in a gin and tonic flavours the part of the drink nearest the wedge and contributes progressively less as the glass empties. Lemon dissolved through the tonic behaves differently: every mouthful is the same.
It also brings a different kind of lemon. A wedge brings juice acidity and a little peel oil; a lemon tonic leans more on the aromatic peel character, which is rounder and less aggressive.
What It Is For
The honest use case is sweet spirits. Sloe gin, fruit liqueurs and the sweetened flavoured gins that now fill most shelves all lack acidity, and plain tonic does nothing to fix that — quinine is bitter, not sour, and those are not interchangeable.
Lemon tonic supplies both at once. That is why a sloe gin and lemon tonic works where a sloe gin and tonic goes slack halfway down the glass.
When Not to Use It
With a very dry, juniper-heavy gin it can read as thin. There is nothing sweet in the drink for the acid to balance, and the result can taste more like lemon squash with gin in it than like a gin and tonic.
The same applies to anything already citrus-forward. Two lemons in one glass is one more than the drink needs, and the second one just makes it sour.
Carbonation
This is at the sharper end of the tonic range, and that suits the flavour. Citrus aromatics ride on carbonation, so a lively bottle delivers noticeably more lemon on the nose than a tired one.
The practical consequence is the usual one: small bottles, opened cold, poured down the side of the glass, and not stirred more than once.
Pro Tip
Reach for it when the spirit brings sugar. Sloe gin, a fruit liqueur or a sweetened gin all go flat under plain tonic, and the lemon here supplies the acid those drinks are missing.
Top Tips
- It is the answer to a sweet spirit, not a dry one. With a bone-dry London Dry it can read as thin.
- Squeeze the lemon slice you garnish with. The tonic brings lemon flavour but very little fresh juice sharpness.
- Keep it cold and open it late. The carbonation is high and it is the first thing to go.
Possible Substitutions
- Fever-Tree Sicilian Lemon Tonic: the parallel product
- Indian tonic with a squeeze of lemon: sharper in one place rather than through the drink
History & Context
Tonic and citrus have been together since the Royal Navy took quinine with gin and lime, but bottling the citrus into the tonic is recent. Sicilian lemons carry the association because the island has been the reference point for European lemon growing since the eighteenth century, when the fruit was planted along the coast at scale.
Common Questions
When should I choose lemon tonic over Indian tonic?
When the spirit is sweet. Sloe gin, fruit liqueurs and sweetened gins have no acidity of their own, and quinine is bitter rather than sour, so plain tonic cannot supply what is missing.
Is it just tonic with lemon added?
Not quite. The lemon is dispersed through the drink rather than concentrated near a wedge, and it leans more on aromatic peel character than on juice acidity. It tastes rounder and more consistent.
Does it work with a classic dry gin?
It can read thin. With nothing sweet to balance, the acid has little to work against. A juniper-heavy gin is usually better served by an Indian tonic.
Guide by Jerry Can Spirits