Fever-Tree Ginger Beer - Premium Quality

These were once the best Ginger Beers in the world. Nothing else even came close. I had been buying these by the case for years from Amazon (sometimes as many as 1-3 cases per month)! They were not only the most mouth watering concoction I had ever tasted in my life (and I know my Ginger Beers), but they helped me so much in quelling the nausea I am dealing with from doing chemo, as there was so much fresh Ginger in them (almost medicinal for me). A tonic that I could never let myself run out of. Thanks to Amazon Prime, I never did run out, and all was well for a very long time. Everything changed in October 2013 when I received three cases of this once wonderful Ginger Beer. They looked funny, tasted odd, and even bitter, and all shared an expiration date of 7/14. I know this product rather well and knew that something was really wrong here. Whatever spilled into the batches that expire 7/14, all had something in them that simply did not belong. There was no mistaking that something was wrong here. We even had neighbors taste test with us, and they agreed that something was definitely very odd in the ones that we had just received, which all expired 7/14. One of these neighbors owns a home nearby, and as a bartender, knows the Fever Tree mixers well. He said that it was obvious that the factory thought it was still making Tonic Water and let Quinine or whatever makes up tonic, run into these instead of natural spring water, as always used. That would explain the strange and unrecognizable bitterness. All I knew is that I was now stuck with three cases of stuff that tasted awful. I contacted Fever Tree directly to make them aware of this problem, as well as Brands Of Britain, who is the sole, authorized, distributor here in the United States. I was treated like an idiot basically. Long story short, no problem exists as they have received no other calls. Disappointing....... I then decided to order again hoping I would receive cases from other expiration dates that I had been used to getting, which were delicious, and yet again, I received one of the dreaded 7/14's, and again, they were so odd and strangely bitter. I still had a little of Fever Tree's regular stock to compare it to, and it was glaringly obvious that something had gone amiss with the stock they created that expire 7/14. If that wasn't bad enough, I realized that they had changed the recipe drastically, and this became rather obvious, as the amount of ginger and cloudiness that made these so delicious and powerful, garnering so many wonderful, well deserved, reviews was now a thing of the past. They have been slowly putting in less and less Ginger in these in the hopes that we would not notice, but more and more people are awakening to this sad news every day. You can almost tell who has the older stock with the original recipe, and who is just waking up to the newer stock (wait until you see the new 10/14's, as they have not a cloud in sight and absolutely no sediment at the bottom period)! We were stunned........ The reviews are going to be very different out here in about 6 months or so. I also took note of the fact that Amazon changed the ingredients listed here, as it used to read Ginger Root just like the labels still read, and yet now it says Ginger Extract, and that explains a lot. They taste like watery knock off's now. I just read a review out here a week ago or so from someone very upset over this as well, and asking why.....why do anything to something so perfect....so sublime (and so expensive I might add)! Greed is the likely answer. Greed. They should have left well enough alone..... I am also turned off to the company themselves for out and out lying when I asked them honestly if a change had been made (it has most definitely changed, and they knew it when they answered me). Their distributor is even worse (Brands Of Britain), as they will dumb you down and gaslight you to the point of utter rudeness. We had been running around from store to store trying to locate what 8/14's we could still find locally that have a fair amount of Ginger at the bottom, and then to our horror, we began to see that they must have made the complete changeover in the middle of making that batch, as some of the 8/14's had just little slivers of Ginger at the bottom instead of at least a somewhat substantial amount in other Ginger Beers from Fever Tree that still shared the expiration date of 8/14. I don't think these people even understand what quality control even means! It means that you can expect to receive the same quality you have come to love from a product, not that every time you go to buy that product, it's vastly different from the one before it, and so on! Crazy! Just crazy! They are also not very sharp business people. Not everyone is going to take the time and trouble to make calls to the United Kingdom, and to Brands Of Britain in California to give them this very important feedback, and make them aware of a very off batch that expires 7/14 that they have running around that should probably be recalled at the very least. Most people will just toss what they have out and move on over to another brand (others are already doing this). They won't take the time to call. If they do make a call, it will only be to the place they purchased it from, and not the company or the distributor, and so the buck stops there. We have spent a fortune ordering in every Ginger Beer that you can name, think of, or that was seen in a professional reviewers list for Ginger Beer reviews. We don't want junk that is made with High Fructose Corn Syrup, and we wanted one that used lots of fresh Ginger. After spending a small fortune and spending months trying desperately to find a replacement, we finally hit pay dirt. The closest to perfection that we could find (and it's still not quite as perfect as Fever Tree's original recipe once was) is "The Ginger People's Ginger Beer Soda". We tried many and that actually tastes more like Fever Tree's version than any other, and has lots of fresh Ginger, which leaves a wonderful, spicy, burn and really makes you want to keep drinking more and more of it (may be even better than Fever Tree truth be told). It has lots of fresh Lemon in it much like Fever Tree, and just tastes clean and spicy. The caveat is that it's even more expensive than Fever Tree, and that was already making a dent in our spending. It's $50.00 a case instead of nearly $40.00, however the additional caveat is that most are selling it for nearly $75.00 a case to ship it to you, and it is not available through Amazon Prime. I almost didn't even bother with it because that's just too outrageous, but my need is great, and I was not drinking these just for pleasure. I found out that if you call a few grocery stores in your area, one or two will have access to it and can simply special order it in for you each month or whenever you need or want it. It will save you all that shipping money, but you just have to go pick it up. My husband picks it up for me now, and that's a huge saving when you are getting at least two at a time. I saved nearly $60.00 for two cases doing it this way! Goya Ginger Beer was also a stand out and pretty delicious, but it is also $50.00 per case, and although it uses fresh Ginger Oil and Fresh Cayenne Oil and has a wonderful taste and burn to it, Goya uses High Fructose Corn Syrup, and that's not what my body needs right now. As the older stock runs out on this, you will see less and less delirium out here with people raving about this Ginger Beer. Brace yourselves, if this was a daily beverage for you........ Footnote here: I uploaded a very clear picture of how much Ginger these used to have inside each bottle (the original recipe) next to a bottle of the current 8/14's, and pictures don't lie....people do. It can be found under customer uploaded pictures right above the reviews for these. The difference is so vast that it's almost startling. It used to have inches of pure, peppery, Ginger Root, and as you can see from my uploaded picture here, the change is rather significant. The 10/14's are the worst, as they have no sediment and no clouds at all.....none. They are mere shells of what they once were.... P.S. We have spoken to several store managers and they are seeing for themselves how vastly different each batch is. They merely go to the mixer aisle of their store with me on their cell phone and let me know if they have any of the good stuff left that still has ginger pieces in it or not (this is so much work for both my husband and I, and it's like shopping for a discontinued product for God Sakes)! I don't know what they were thinking in doing this! Why touch anything here! It was perfection, and we are being charged handsomely for the privilege of drinking it! One store has had several complaints asking them what happened to the formula of Fever Tree Ginger Beer, as if they know (poor guy), but they are merely a grocery store (frustrating for them and frustrating for us). I can tell you what one told me by phone yesterday. He said that they only had (1) 8/14 in stock (explains why some are still raving, as there is some of the older stock still being sold out there) and the 8/14's are the oldest expiration date that still has something that even somewhat resembles the original formula in it, although again, not even a third of the Ginger it used to have, Half of the batches that expire 8/14 only have a few pieces at the bottom now, whereas the other half has enough to give it a little bite, and resembles more of what people are used to. Crazy stuff going on here (they haven't changed a thing my ass)! I have never seen anyone do business this way. Ordering this through Amazon Prime would be a crap shoot completely now. The manager of one store said "how odd, the 10/14's I have in front of me have nothing in them and are quite clear, but I am holding one 8/14, and it is somewhat cloudy and different." He said "no wonder I am getting so many calls about this!" He admitted that he never bothered to really look before, as he doesn't drink Ginger Beer period, and they get so busy in that store. He tried to entice me into buying some of the other brands that they carry, but I know all about the other brands, and the only other one that is somewhat worthy is Goya (they do carry it). Goya is a favorite for many, but if they only used cane sugar, Goya would be perfect, as it is spicy, and loaded with lots of fresh ginger and ginger burn. If you care anything about this drink and want to see it go back to it's original formulation, you have to take a moment out of your day and go to Fever Tree's web site. It will not cost you anything to simply email them about how unhappy you are with the change. It takes only a moment to call or email Brands Of Britain in California, and on the web (this should be the second communication that you make, as contacting Fever Tree directly is far more important). Let them know that you are not happy with what has happened to this Ginger Beer (be prepared however, as they gaslighted the hell out of me, and made me think I was the only one who had called them, and that no problem exists). Both Fever Tree and Brands Of Britain swore up and down that no change had been made! Who am I going to believe, them or my husband and mine's lying eyes and taste buds! If nobody takes the time to complain, we won't stand a chance in seeing them realize the error of their ways and go back to what we had been buying for years! My personal hope is that they will get so many complaints on this that they will go back to the original recipe, and one day we will go into one of the few stores that carry this locally, and see bottles brimming with fresh ginger again (and not just a few pieces either, but what I uploaded in my picture here at Amazon, which shows just how much ginger they used to put in these)! Fever Tree has their own Facebook page also. You cannot start a thread, but you can pick the most current one, and respond there to let them know how you feel! I am sure Brands Of Britain has a Facebook Page too! We are customers after all, and have a right to honest feedback! Pray that they wake up and spend less time disliking this review as well as other reviews from people out here, who have noted the drastic change in these, and focus on what's truly important, and that's pulling their head out of their asses, and recognizing that a terrible mistake has been made here. They need to take that energy, and restore the original recipe immediately, although by then (and that's only if they awaken) many will have moved on to other brands, and won't care much anymore one way or another. In case you were wondering what the new ones taste like, which are crystal clear and have no sediment at all, imagine unpleasant, watered down, Grapefruit juice with the smell of sweat (I wish I could say I was kidding). They are actually disgusting now (and Fever Tree could care less)! It's a pain in the ass, and crazy expensive, but we are now driving an hour in each direction to a store that is special ordering us in "The Ginger People's Ginger Beer Soda" as they are what this once was, only they have even more of a lingering burn, with a much more intense shot of pure ginger. They are crazy for what they charge (we pay $50.00 a case for (24) 12 ounce bottles), but at least they deliver the goods! A rich, peppery, lingering burn of real Ginger with only the finest of ingredients. It goes to show how far people are willing to go or spend to get quality! You should have just raised the price Fever Tree instead of selling your soul here!