New data from Boë Gin has suggested tonic’s crown as the mixer of choice for gin may be slipping.
A survey of 2,000 UK gin drinkers found that over half (53%) of those aged 18-34 now prefer a gin and lemonade (G&L), with just a quarter (26%) opting for tonic as a mixer.
And it’s not just young drinkers. The rapid rise of flavoured gins, which now account for a third of the overall gin market, is also helping to knock the G&T from the top spot; lemonade is the preferred mixer for over half (52%) of all flavoured gin drinkers.
Meanwhile, it was England’s North East which proved to have the UK’s highest number of G&L drinkers, as well as gin drinkers overall. London and the South East, on the other hand, remains a heartland for G&Ts, favoured by over half (55%) of drinkers in the area.
The study also revealed that an aversion to tonic could be the reason why many younger drinkers are turning away from a G&T. Brits felt so strongly about their distaste of tonic that over a third (39%) of those who didn’t like it said they would rather drink a flat fizzy drink and nearly a fifth (17%) said they’d rather drink cold tea.
The emergence of the G&L prompted Boë to create its first full-strength flavoured gin, Apple & Lime, to work better with lemonade than tonic as a citrus drink.
Andrew Richardson, Director at Boë Gin, said: “Only a few years ago, tonic was the assumed mixer to enjoy with gin. Today, we are starting to create gins to mix better with lemonade than tonic, such has been the huge increase in demand for a G&L.
“The citrus in premium lemonade blends really nicely with flavoured gins, which continue to grow in popularity. It certainly doesn’t spell the end of the G&T, but the G&L’s are in town right now and it looks like they are here to stay.”
