The High-Definition G&T

When it comes to making your next gin and tonic beyond ordinary, only one mixer will do: the Peter Spanton No.9 in March's Gin of the Month Box!  

Every gin drinker worth their salt knows that tonic matters – but did you know that you can choose a tonic that enhances the botanical blend of your favourite gin?

When PJ Rigney was putting together the botanical blend of Gunpowder Irish Gin, he was instantly taken by the half-sweet, half-savoury scent of cardamom. Fortunately for gin drinkers everywhere, so too was Peter Spanton.

A long-time bar owner turned purveyor of premium mixers and soft drinks, he was searching for a way to make tonics that enhanced the flavours of beautiful craft gins – and knew that the next drink in his series of beautifully crafted tonics had to be the perfect combination of aromatic cardamom and bitter quinine.

“Not many people drink gin neat,” he says, “but I wanted to figure out a way to keep the faith with gin distillers. No.9 doesn’t attempt to usurp the gin it’s mixed with. Its role is to enhance, to add to, to complete.”

Elegant all on its own as a soft drink, No.9 – like all of Peter’s creations – can also be considered a beautiful frame upon which to hang the gin distiller’s masterpiece.

“I wanted to create a G&T in high definition,” he says, “to enhance, push and recreate this classic drink without taking anything away from the history that makes it what it is.”

No.9 is just one of an entire range of tonics and soft drinks from Peter Spanton. Each is created by blending the best ingredients to surprise and delight the most discerning palates – whether you’re imbibing alcohol in that moment or not.

The idea for the range came to Peter when he sold his bar, London’s iconic London Vic Naylor’s, and started thinking seriously about how non-drinkers were treated in other establishments. As a test, he bought every zero-proof drink he could find and put them all on his table, then set to work sorting them into different categories. At the end of it all, had found just two soft drinks sophisticated enough for adults.

Peter says, “How do you survive as a non-drinker in our alcohol-based social culture? The answer is simple: give the drinker and the non-drinker the same respect. Two people can enjoy the same experience with or without alcohol – not segregation, but inclusion.”

With that in mind, he set to work developing a full range of drinks that can work with or without the booze. From a classic London tonics and sodas to wonderfully unique flavours – chocolate and lemongrass are just two of the options on offer – this range has everything discerning drinkers could hope for.

“All of the drinks have a unique and bold flavour profile,” Peter says. “No one else makes a cardamom, chocolate, lemongrass, salted grapefruit or smoky ginger tonic!”

So raise a glass to the curious minds – because when Gunpowder Gin and Peter Spanton’s No.9 are in your glass, you’re in for an HD G&T.