The British colonial masters showed the way back in the 19th century: Gin and tonic with its tart freshness works around the clock - in the morning at eleven as well as late at night.
For many years, the focus was on the gins.
There was no decent house bar without at least five different types of gin in the range of spirits.
The question was pure, strong, juniper-heavy, Mediterranean or rather soft.
Today we have the same discussion, only it's all about the tonic.
Because just as a few years ago a new gin distillery was founded in every third big city backyard, experiments are now being carried out with water containing quinine, worldwide - with a variety of aromas ranging from tart herbs to strong spices to sweet fruit.
The tonic hype follows the gin hype.
Right now, bitter lemonade is all about herbs and less sugar.
The "Mediterranean Tonic" from Fever-Tree with essential oils, notes of rosemary and lemon thyme triggered the trend, simply because the carbonic acid gives a nice hint of the Mediterranean coast in the glass.
"It harmonises with both pure gins and gins that shine with their Mediterranean aroma, such as Gin Mare, for example," says Peter Jauch, who has written a whole book about gin.
Almost at the same time, the Berlin company Thomas Henry released a "Botanical Tonic" and the market leader Schweppes a "Herbal Tonic Water".
Rosemary, thyme, oregano and marjoram are the trendy tonic notes.
The tonic market seems to be exploding
"New tonic brands have sprung up like mushrooms," says Swiss author Jauch.
In his 424-page book "Gin" he also dedicates a stately examination to the tonics, the fillers.
The tonic market seems to be exploding right now.
Newcomers such as Seventeen 1724 Tonic Water (Spain), Fentimans (England) or Ecobryggeriet (Sweden) - they are doing something really new with spruce needle or clove flavored tonics - show the variety that now prevails in tonics.
"In any case, the times when you knew which gin and which tonic was in the glass after ordering are long gone," says Kostas Ignatiadis, who has been working as a bartender at Munich's Schumann's Bar for almost 20 years.
For what felt like an eternity, the combination of yellow and yellow, Gordon's Dry Gin with the classic Indian Tonic Water from Schweppes, was served as a gin and tonic - one label in bright yellow, the other in rich corn yellow.
A connection that today only people over 30 know.
Ignatiadis has witnessed the gin and tonic boom up close since 2005.
"Ten years ago, we were offered three new gins to test every day in the bar, so it is now with the tonics," he confirms.
"And today there are as many tonics as there are gins, everyone makes their own."
The distillery "The Duke" even does both.
In 2007 she experimented with a first gin recipe in a Munich backyard.
Today it has become a stately company including tonic production.
Fever-Tree's share price has increased twenty-fold
Ever since the patent was granted in 1858, tonic water based on Erasmus Bond's recipe has consisted of soda, sugar, notes of lemon and quinine - it is what gives the tonic its bitter taste.
For a long time, the Schweppes company dominated the market with their classic "Indian Tonic Water" until the two friends Charles Rolls and Tim Warrilow asked themselves in 2003: "If three-quarters of the gin and tonic consists of tonic, then the tonic shouldn't be of the best quality ?
For a year they searched Africa for the best ingredients, from quinine to orange oil, and fine-tuned the recipe for their "Premium Indian Tonic Water".
That was the beginning of the success story of the British company Fever-Tree, which today achieves a three-digit million turnover.
Its stock value has increased twenty-fold since it began trading in 2014.
It goes without saying that Schweppes couldn't sit idly by: In 2014 it brought out its reduced-sugar "Dry Tonic Water", which has been enthusiastically received by many bartenders - even if it's only available on the German and Austrian markets so far.
Kostas Ignatiadis describes the tonic as "bone dry" and means: You taste more quinine, lemon and grapefruit.
A new trend: reduced alcohol content
When the sugar tax was introduced in Great Britain in 2018 to counteract the widespread diseases diabetes and obesity, Fever-Tree also followed up with the "Premium Dry Tonic Water": This contains just 2.9 grams of sugar in 100 milliliters of tonic instead of the otherwise average eight grams of sugar.
"But if you really like it dry and bitter, you should try "Light at Heart Tonic Water" with 2.1 grams of sugar from Barker and Quin," recommends the author Jauch.
After the herbal wave and sugar reduction, a new trend is already emerging this summer: diluting the alcohol content: "Tonics are ideal for this because, despite their bitter taste, they are fillers with an amazing number of possible combinations," says the bar expert and owner of the Cologne bar "Little Link" Stephan Hinz.
The fact that he has often been right with his sense of trends has been confirmed by numerous awards, most recently he received the award "Most Innovative Bartender 2020/21".
Hinz not only changed the ratio of gin to tonic, but also wanted to find a new base that, despite its reduced alcohol content, has a sufficiently dense taste for dilution with tonic water.
He developed his own spirits.
Despite the low alcohol content of 19 to 20 percent, they give it a balanced taste: "Ricordino Tonic" has notes of citrus fruits and Mediterranean herbs, the "Kalyx Tonic" is characterized by a fruity-floral taste with rose, hibiscus and raspberry.