... AND TONIC’S GOT A NEW SPARKLE TOO

JUST as Hendrick’s changed the gin landscape, so producers like Fentimans and Fever Tree have done the same for tonics, with fancy glass bottles and naturally infused botanicals.

Schweppes Tonic Water just doesn’t cut it any more if you’re looking for something special — it has no frilly bits, just a whack of bitterness and bubbles finished with quite a bit of sweetness (although it’s reasonably priced at £4 for 12x150ml cans at Asda, and who can resist the sound of a Schweppes can opening?)

So now we’re spoilt for choice with flavours in our gin, tonic is set to go the same way. Here are some gin-friendly ones worth trying: 500ml, £1.69, Tesco YOU can smell and taste the citrus characters, but it has that all-important bitterness. Lovely and fresh, and the bubbles have staying power. Like a great dance partner, it lets the gin take the lead, while doing the work to make it look good. 4 x 200ml, £3.29, Waitrose IN A medicinal-looking bottle, this is more herbal than most, with a whiff of gin about it thanks to the addition of juniper berries to the blend. Stick to stronger-flavoured gins with this one, as delicately flavoured ones will get lost. 500ml, £1.69, Waitrose ANOTHER tonic from Fever Tree and the search for the best-quality quinine, tonic’s key ingredient, took the makers to the Congo. The angostura bark, which makes this pink tonic aromatic, comes from South America. Other savoury botanicals give this a grown-up feel. Well balanced and beautifully aromatic, it’s great over ice on its own or — my favourite — with a strong, heavy-on-the-juniper gin. 4 x 200ml, £4, abelandcole.co.uk FROM the makers of 6 o’clock gin comes this smartly packaged tonic water. Next to a can of you-know-what, it’s much fresher with light, crisp citrus flavours. Not a whiff of anything synthetic, it’s expensive but a cut above. MOST have artificial sweeteners, which, though saving on calories, affect flavour. I’m all for a balanced diet, but I’d rather have a few extra calories than impair a G&T. Fever Tree does an all-natural, low-calorie tonic. In a stiff G&T, you’re hard pushed to notice the missing sugar.