Story by Trish Brew, Fever-Tree Brand Ambassador
Thankfully summer is here and after a tumultuous year, the arrival of the new range of Fever-Tree sodas to Australian shores is one the biggest highlights of our year! The three new additions to the Fever-Tree mixer family are the Lime & Yuzu soda, the Pink Grapefruit soda, and the Italian Blood Orange soda!
The Lime & Yuzu soda is proudly made using the finest Mexican limes from Yucatan and Japanese Yuzu fruit from the Oita province as well as Shikoko Island. Bubbly, bright, and fresh, it adds a tangy yet subdued moreish citrus edge to any drinks topped with soda. For the simplest application, the substitution for regular soda in a Vodka or Gin and Soda (or any spirit/soda combo of your choice) will immediately showcase its versatility, but for a more sophisticated use, perhaps try topping up your gin fizz (or Ramos even) with the Lime & Yuzu soda to give it a certain je na sais quoi! Another fun way to play, is to top up a simple lager/session ale/light sour beer with it instead of lemonade to make a banging shandy…. We tried it with the Kaiju Krush tropical ale which yielded a delicious thirst-quenching result!
Following on, The Pink Grapefruit soda harnesses the freshest and most vibrant hand-picked Florida grapefruits in its creation and is the shoo-in as a mixer for one of summer’s ultimate drinks, The Paloma. Whilst the Paloma is an obvious choice, we experimented with a few other spirits that proved to be extremely tasty combos, namely Absinthe/Pastis and Sloe Gin. The herbal and fruity qualities of the spirits were really accentuated by the soft rosy note of the Pink Grapefruit soda, and we implore you to give it a go yourselves! Try some simple and fun things like turning a Hemmingway Daiquiri into a Hemmingway Spritz by building the rum, lime, and maraschino liqueur over ice and topping with the Pink Grapefruit soda.
Finally, we have the Italian Blood Orange soda which is crafted using in-season Sicilian blood oranges that is then blended with bergamot as well as wormwood to give it depth and complexity. For straightforward usage, we found that it paired beautifully with any white spirit, but especially well with grape based or aromatic spirits like Cognac, Pisco, and Rhum Agricole in a simple highball with a lemon twist. A fun way to play with it as bartenders is as a lengthener to turn your favourite Negroni into a bubbly tall aperitif, just build your Negroni over ice in a tall glass and top it up with the Blood Orange soda!
The possibilities are just endless and are yearning to be explored now that these new sodas have hit our shores. Get your creative juices flowing and we at Fever-Tree Australia cannot wait to see, hear, and taste all the delicious things you come up with using these new products that we are so proud to present to you! After a tough year, let us not forget to be kind to each other, stay healthy, and as always, mix with the best!