Here is our review for the Fever Tree Passion Fruit Martini Mixer.
Origin : London, UK
Cost : £4.50
Strength : Weak/Moderate
Anyone that enjoys a good drink will be familiar with the brand Fever Tree. They've been making and selling drinks mixers of all kinds since 2004, making it a fairly new company in comparison with a lot of other well known mixer brands from around the world. Most people will recognise Fever Trees Tonic Water products of which they have a wide range of flavours of which include Indian, Elder flower, Clementine and many others. More recently Fever Tree have released a line of Cocktail mixers that require only ice and the matching spirit to make. This Passion Fruit Martini Mixer is an attempt to make producing the famous Porn star Martini quicker and easier. We of course always encourage making cocktails with as many fresh ingredients as possible, to get the best results. But how does this Mixer product compare to the freshly made classic ?
What's In It ?
The concern from a bartenders standpoint with these products is the lack of natural ingredients and the reliance on concentrates and preservatives. Whist this mixer does use
Passion fruit Juice from Concentrate and Carrot, Safflower and Apple concentrates, it also does make use of a few fresh ingredients. Mango Puree and Natural Vanilla and Passion fruit flavourings aim to mimic the fruity sweet flavours that are associated with this cocktail along with a few other common ingredients such as Spring Water and Citric Acid
Preparation
Making your cocktail with this mixer is extremely simple and requires little time. 50 ml of any Vodka of your choosing along with 100 ml of the mixer in a shaker with ice and shake well for 15 seconds is all it takes. This is probably the products best selling point as it appeals to people who maybe don't have time or money to make a cocktail from scratch. You could also see this as a good product for parties with many guest as you can bulk make many cocktails by multiplying the Vodka and Mixer quantities to match the number of people.
What does it taste like ?
There is a certain refreshing quality to the cocktail this product creates. Many of the flavours you are use to with a Porn star Martini are there, all be it a bit toned down. Specifically we could not get much of the Vanilla from this product which is a key component in the flavour balance of the cocktail. The Passion fruit and Mango are there and make for a sweet initially taste , but this fades out quickly. We think that the water dilution from shaking this can have a hug impact on its quality , so try not to go overboard on this in preparation.
What does it cost ?
We purchased this from Tesco for £4.50, which seems a bit steep for one bottle. But as you get four drinks from this put it into perspective more. You can often find this on offer along with other Fever Tree products quite frequently , so it may pay to wait till such an offer is available. These Mixers can also be kept for up to 10 days after opening as long as they are refrigerated , so you don't have to finish it all in one night. When you consider the cost of multiple ingredients and the longevity of keep them fresh, this is what makes a pre-mixed cocktail so appealing.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt a product like this has its place in a home, especially for people who have little time or experience with making cocktails fresh from scratch. But from trying it out the difference between the drink that is produced and a freshly made classic is clear. It's extra effort to buy and prepare ingredients such as fresh lime juice , Vanilla Syrup and Passion Fruit Puree, but in our opinion it is worth it to have a cocktail in its best form.
This pre-mixed product loses a lot of flavour strength and can taste slightly watered down at times , which takes away from what should be an enjoyable tasting experience. We do encourage you to try this out so you can get a better sense of why making cocktails from scratch at home can be so rewarding and worth it. Fever Tree offer other cocktail mixers in this line such as an Espresso Martini, Mojito and more, so it will be interesting to review these in the future and see how they compare to their freshly made counterparts and this product.
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