There you are, about to neck a sundowner gin and tonic after the kind of day that almost saw you strangle a colleague, and then it happens. You take your first sip, and recoil in horror, because you’ve only gone and made yourself a gin and soda.

What kind of a fool would do such a thing, you ask? Well, thanks to a Schweppes rebranding, far too many of us.

In case you missed our story from earlier this year, it can be summed up in the following two tweets.

People were not impressed:

If you ended up tossing out some perfectly good gin because of this blunder, I can assure you it was far from a laughing matter.

You should be mixing your gin with a bespoke, superbly balanced mixer, by the way, but more on that later.

Take a look at the number of replies in the tweet below – 97:

Yup, many were caught out, and many were angry.

I would like to take a moment of silence for all the gin that was washed away down the sink after being mixed with soda. It’s a cruel world we live in.

So, when you’ve dropped the ball, at some point you need to own up to your own mistakes. It may have taken a very, very long time, but earlier this month, Schweppes admitted it dropped the ball:

According to Business Insider, who spoke with senior brand manager, Mukundi Munzhelele, those are real employees:

“The complaints we received were passionate and heartfelt…It was only fair to them (customers) that the actual people who worked on the campaign not only see the responses, but respond in a manner that was fitting.”

Credit where credit is due – those involved took it on the chin, they didn’t hide from the scrutiny, and they had a laugh at themselves.

We can respect that, but if Seth has taught us anything, it’s that you need to treat yourself to the finer things in life. Given that we spoil ourselves with the gin we choose, it’s only right that we do the same with our mixers.

Delicately carbonated, superbly balanced, and infused with the world’s finest flavours, there’s only one Fitch & Leedes. Their mixers take you back to an era when things were still made with the utmost care and craftsmanship.

Feast your eyes on this:

Look at that. It’s glorious. You can stay. No need to sneak out the back door in the morning, either.

The Fitch & Leeds range includes all the classics you’ve come to know and love (Indian Tonic, Bitter Lemon, Ginger Ale, Pink Tonic and more) as well as unique offerings like Craft Cola and those beauties above.

There’s also plenty in the Sugar-Free and Low Kilojoule range.

Oh, did we mention their new Blue Tonic? We’re talking whiffs of juicy blueberry and hints of cardamom, and one hell of an Instagram picture:

Added bonus – you’re not going to end up with a tonic or soda water mix-up.

One final heads up before we part ways – Fitch & Leedes are giving away a team entry to the joBerg2c, South Africa’s finest mountain-biking race, valued at R24 800.

If that’s your thing, you will find all those details here.

[source:businsider]