I always talk about how when you use mixers, just because you are mixing you should not use a subpar spirit. The mixer should not have to mask the flavor or make it drinkable, it should accent it. Well, now the same goes true for the mixers. How many times did I buy some juice or soda that I just wasn't crazy about so I ended up throwing in some sort of spirit so I didn't waste it? Well, doing it just for the sake of doing it was not all it was cracked up to be because it still didn't taste as good as it could have.
Q Mixers have totally changed my perception of mixers and what they should be. First, they have more carbonation which makes my cocktail stay fizzier longer. Nothing worse than losing that fizz. Next, instead of using high fructose corn syrup or sugar as a sweetener, they use organic agave nectar. This makes the calories in their mixers much less than what you would normally find unless of course you were using diet soda to which then you have all the chemicals and not the all natural organic agave nectar. They use no genetically modified ingredients, and no artificial flavors or preservatives.
Q Mixers asks the question “Shouldn't the mixer be as great as the spirit?”, and the answer is a big resounding YES. You would not believe the difference.
As you can see, mixers include variations such as Original Tonic Water, Indian Tonic Water (which is more bitter and a little sweeter than the Original Tonic Water and purpose-built to mix with London Dry gins), Ginger Ale, Ginger Beer, Club Soda, Grapefruit, and Kola.
I drink vodka and tonic quite often. I buy tonic water and add vodka. Easy. Of course this was the first thing I tried being that I drink it so often. I could not believe the difference in using the Q Mixer instead of the store bought brand I usually have on hand. Not to mention, this tonic water tasted far less bitter than what I was used to, and I did not even know that was possible, just assumed the quinine made it bitter and that is the way the cookie crumbled. And as mentioned above, no high fructose corn syrup!
As far as the “soda” mixers go, and I am calling them soda mixers because we all have mixed with ginger ale, cola, and for me I absolutely love mixing with grapefruit soda, especially in the summertime. So refreshing. The flavors of these mixers compared to the regular soda you buy is unbelievable. It is amazing how much better these taste and maybe the fact that they use ingredients such as quinine from Peru, lemons from Italy, Kola Nut from West Africa, cinnamon from China, salt from the Himalayan Mountains, and Rose Oil from Turkey to name a few is one of the reasons they taste so much better.
Like I said, I learned pretty early on that just because you are mixing does not mean you should use spirits that are not enjoyable on their own, and while mixers are a bit different because they taste fine on their own, using Q Mixers in your cocktails (1/4 spirit, 3/4 mixer) definitely makes the cocktail taste better.
In addition to learning more and getting recipes visiting the Q Drinks website, you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
