march-2012

AS SPAIN GOES G&T CRAZY, MEET THE
MASTERMINDS BEHIND THE WORLD’S
FIRST PREMIUM TONIC WATER
MALIKA BROWNE
IT’S FRIDAY NIGHT and this minimalist city bar
is heaving with trendy, young professional types.
Nothing out of the ordinary, maybe – it’s a scene being
repeated in similar establishments the world over. But
take a closer look and you’ll see that all the revellers are
clutching oddly oversized glasses. And, if you peer over
the barman’s shoulder, you will see that the shelves of
bottles contain just one type of spirit.
Welcome to Bobby Gin (bobbygin.com), a joint
dedicated entirely to the spirit once decried as
“mother’s ruin”. Formerly the preserve of retired
colonels in England’s Home Counties, gin and tonic is
enjoying a revival among a hipper crowd. But this isn’t
London – we’re in Barcelona’s Gràcia neighbourhood.
It may sound hard to believe, but Spain is in the
midst of a craze that has seen it become Europe’s
largest gin-drinking market, with a penchant for
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premium brands. Here, gin and tonic is often imbibed
after dinner, spiced with nutmeg, citrus and star anise,
and those balloon glasses are provided to help enhance
the aromatic aromas.
It’s a world away from the British take on G&T, yet
there is a very British face to this story. London-based
entrepreneurs Tim Warrillow and Charles Rolls are the
brains behind a tonic-water brand that has become the
most sought-after accompaniment to gin in Spain.
Called Fever-Tree, it was the world’s fi rst so-called
premium tonic when it launched in 2005 and you’ll
now fi nd it in bars across the Iberian penninsula.
“We’re proudly after the adult market,” explains Rolls
of the premium tag, “so our drinks are deliberately not
over-sweet”.
Fever-Tree uses cane sugar instead of artifi cial
sweetener saccharine, even though the latter is seven