Top Note Gentiana combines with Vermouth for a smooth, bitter and delicious low ABV cocktail.
The holiday spirit isn’t limited to just, well, spirits. Gourmet tonics and mixers should be a part of your celebration and your gifting. Here’s a roundup of some of the best tonics and mixers around.
Top Note Gentiana, 49.99/case of 16
This limited release tonic water from Top Note is getting rave reviews from bartenders across the country. Inspired by Italian bitter sodas, this tonic water features French gentian root front and center, bringing through notes of honeysuckle and orange. Delicious on its own or mixed with vermouth for a low ABV cocktail, it’s also great as a replacement for bitter liqueurs, as well as functioning as a digestive or aperitivo on its own. And, yes, you can mix it with harder spirits for delicious results, too. Top Note also makes some other amazing tonics, including an unusual Indian tonic (which tastes very, very different from other Indian tonics on the market) and a grapefruit soda that makes one of the best Wisconsin old fashioned cocktails anywhere.
The Mistletoe Sour is made with 2 ounces Fresh Victor three citrus & mint leaf, .5 ounces Fresh ... [+]
Fresh Victor , $59.99/6-pack
If you’re looking to make a sour cocktail, then Fresh Victor should be your mixer of choice. Made with real juice and either cane sugar or agave, you can mix and match all seven flavors, including: lemon sour, Mexican lime & agave, cucumber & lime, jalapeño & lime, three citrus & mint leaf, cactus pear & pomegranate, and pineapple & ginger. Just take two parts mixer and one part spirit to combine for one delicious cocktail.
Pratt Standard Agave Spice Old Fashioned mixer is designed for tequila, rum and vodka cocktails.
Pratt Standard Agave Spice Old Fashioned, $12
Pratt Standard Cocktail Co. has been making a variety of pre-Prohibition cocktail syrups since 2014, and it’s hard to pick a favorite from the bunch. But the Agave Spice Old Fashioned lends itself to holiday cocktails made with tequilas, rums and vodkas. Orange, cacao, vanilla and gentian root are just some of the ingredients that give this mixer a delicious spice.
The Jolly Joel Spritz is made with 2 oz. Bourbon, ½ oz. lemon juice ½ tsp. maple syrup, 4 oz. Q ... [+]
Q Ginger Beer, $3.99/4-pack
How do we love thee Q mixers, let us count the ways. Well, actually, there’s 13 ways because Q has 13 different tonics and mixers, but if we had to only pick one, we’d pick their ginger beer, which doesn’t attempt to be both a ginger soda and a mixer. It’s a straight mixer that is meant to play well with spirits, which it does rather well.
Crisp & Crude stands alone as a nonalcoholic cocktail, but it also mixes well with others.
Crisp & Crude, $23.99/4-pack hemp-infused, $21.99/4-pack, hemp-free
Crisp & Crude hemp-infused and hemp-free cocktails standalone as a zero ABV cocktail, but they also make incredible mixers. “Botanical terpenes provide a more sophisticated flavor depth and a natural, mood-enhancing effect that make the cocktails great by themselves or mixed with spirits,” says founder Talia Bennick. Try the Gold Fashioned, the Mellow Mule, the Paloma Daydream or the OG Tonic.
AVEC's holiday box is perfect for gifting.
AVEC, $45/case of 15
When the founders of AVEC started their company, they almost called themselves a tonic company, but they’re really a tonic-adjacent company, as their mixers are unlike anything else on the market. Made with real juice, botanicals and natural extracts, each can of AVEC boasts less than 4 grams of sugar per serving and less than 20 calories, and each can practically explodes with flavor. Try ginger, jalapeño & blood orange, hibiscus & pomegranate, grapefruit & pomelo, or yuzu & lime.
Fever-Tree combines two trendy flavors into one delicious mixer.
Fever-Tree Sparkling Lime and Yuzu, $5.99/4-pack
Fever-Tree has been leading the way with tonics and mixers, and this UK brand is staying the course with its on-trend, sparkling lime and yuzu mixer. Low in calories and brimming with flavor, this mixer plays very, very well with others.
New Fashioned dry cocktail mixers are the perfect stocking stuffer for avid travelers and globe ... [+]
New Fashioned Old Fashioned Dry Cocktail Mixers,$25/7-pack
If you’re looking for a stocking stuffer for someone who travels, then look no further. The New Fashioned dry cocktail mixers are perfect, and they’re not only great for traveling, they’re also great for tailgating and other places that serve up cocktails that aren’t as good as you’d like them to be. Made with all natural ingredients, just pour into your spirit and serve. Try two flavors - old fashioned or margarita.
The Perfect Purée offers more than 30 flavors to up your cocktail game. This cocktail, the Yuzu ... [+]
The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley, $20/30 ounces.
Real fruit purées, concentrates, zests and blends from The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley will elevate your cocktails and mocktails. The Perfect Purée offers more than 30 different varieties to flavor your drinks, including some exotic delights like blood orange concentrate, yuzu luxe sour and tamarind. This is an easy and delicious way to up your cocktail game.
