Supershoppers blind taste Indian tonic waters

More than 40 million bottles of gin are polished off every year in Britain – which suggests we’re glugging a lot of tonic water too.

There are plenty to choose from on supermarket shelves, and there is an astonishing price difference between own-brand tonic waters that can cost just 45p a litre and premium options like Fever-Tree, which can cost up to £3.40 for the same amount.

But can the average drinker really tell the difference between supermarket tonic and one that’s seven times more expensive when they aren’t told which is which? 

Channel 4’s Supershoppers put it to the test with a blind tasting – and the results were very surprising.  

Mid-range Schweppes, which costs £1.19 for a litre, was pitted against Fever-Tree Tonic Water, which costs £3.38 for 1 litre at Tesco

Co-presenter of Supershoppers, Anna Richardson, asked blind taste testers to see if they could tell the difference between various tonic water brands

Co-presenter of Supershoppers, Anna Richardson, asked blind taste testers to see if they could tell the difference between various tonic water brands

Ordinary gin lovers were asked to comment on the flavour of three different tonic waters without knowing which was which on the show, which airs tonight.

None of them managed to identify the cheapest, with two out of five testers saying they their favourite was the lowest priced tonic water: Tesco’s own brand, which costs just 45p a litre.

Three out of five however said they preferred the most expensive tonic water by Fever-Tree, which costs £3.38 for two 500ml bottles at Tesco.

No-one was a fan of Schweppes mid-range £1.19 tonic water, which the testers branded ‘too sweet’.

Three out of the five testers said they preferred the most expensive tonic water by Fever-Tree - but the other two said they preferred Tesco's 45p own-brand tonic

Three out of the five testers said they preferred the most expensive tonic water by Fever-Tree – but the other two said they preferred Tesco’s 45p own-brand tonic

The blind taste testers tried three different tonic waters and the brands were hidden behind different letters so the testers couldn't see

The blind taste testers tried three different tonic waters and the brands were hidden behind different letters so the testers couldn’t see

The testers found that Schweppes was too sweet, though one of the testers said he liked that about the £1.19 tonic water

The testers found that Schweppes was too sweet, though one of the testers said he liked that about the £1.19 tonic water

The segment was filmed for Supershoppers, which exposes tricks of the retail trade.

Pricey Fever-Tree won the taste test, with one drinker remarking: ‘The first one [Schweppes] felt like it was scraping and cleaning my teeth. That one was a lot smoother.’

But the testers also liked Tesco’s own-brand Indian Tonic Water, with one saying ‘that certainly was the winner’.

And when they found out the own-brand tonic was seven times cheaper than Fever-Tree, one of the testers said: ‘I would never have gone for a Tesco own-brand, but tasting it along side the Fever-Tree, it’s quite similar so I might go out and get that.’

Fever Tree and Fentimans are two examples of premium tonic water on the marker, while Schweppes is a mid-range option

Fever Tree and Fentimans are two examples of premium tonic water on the marker, while Schweppes is a mid-range option

Earlier in the show, Dimitrios Tsivirikos, a consumer and business psychologist, explained how premium brands such as Fever-Tree have to use clever marketing to win over customers.

The website tells the story of how its founders travelled the world, including to ‘dangerous’ parts of the globe such as the Congo, to source natural ingredients for their products.

Fever-Tree is now worth £2 billion after only being founded in 2005, so it’s clearly working.

Dimitrios explained to presenter Anna Richardson: ‘At the end of the day, it’s just tonic water.  

‘They have to come up with a story a narrative, a picture for people to be associated with, and something to love.’ 

Saskia Meyer, marketing director at Fever-Tree, said: ‘We are delighted to come out on top of this taste test. Since we started over 12 years ago, we have been focused on putting quality ingredients back into the category that for too long had been overlooked. At Fever-Tree, all our mixers are carefully crafted using naturally sourced ingredients, from the most remote parts of the world, to complement the wide variety of fantastic spirits now available to consumers.’

A spokesperson for Schweppes GB said: ‘We are disappointed with the results of the Supershoppers taste test as we know that Schweppes comes out top time and time again in robust independent third party tests against other branded tonic waters. We know that 6.5 million households buy Schweppes each year and they tell us they love it – that’s why it is still the nation’s favourite tonic.’ 

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Brands have been contacted for comment. 



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