Top Note’s Classic Tonic Water Wins Double Gold at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition for the Second Year In A Row

MILWAUKEE, Wis.-- Top Note, the inventive craft makers behind the heavily awarded lineup of mixers and soft drinks out of Milwaukee, WI., took home top honors at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition for an unprecedented second year in a row. Top Note’s Classic Tonic Water earned double gold by one of the industry's most critical set of judges, The Tasting Alliance. In total, only 65 double golds are handed out, out of roughly 6,000 global entrants in the Ready-to-Drink cocktail, mocktail and mixers category. 

The San Francisco World Spirits Competition also awarded Top Note’s Bitter Lemon and Sparkling Grapefruit Soda gold medals. With a judging panel featuring the industry’s most active and knowledgeable experts, The Tasting Alliance’s blind tasting competitions are considered the most influential awards of the season, and the highest authority in the beverage category today. 

“We are thrilled and honored to be recognized again this year as an innovative, independent craft brand of non-alcoholic mixers and sodas, and to stand out to such an elite group of industry professionals,” says Top Note co-founder Mary Pellettieri. 

With her craft brewer’s mentality, Pellettieri literally wrote the book on quality for the Brewers Association and has been a respected industry expert for decades. At Top Note, Pellettieri loves to put a twist on traditional mixers and wow the world by thoughtfully crafting every recipe from scratch. Each flavorful beverage begins with a small-scale pilot sized batch in a test kitchen, where Top Note’s co-founders taste recipes up to 100 times before they are approved. 

“We’re inspired by bartenders and consumers becoming more adventurous with their tastes, seeking new innovations and unique flavor combinations,” says Pellettieri. “In our research kitchen, there’s a lot of testing of various combinations of premium extracts to create our beverages so they pair well with alcohol, but are also delicious enough to stand alone. We work hard to make our products really balanced with less sugar.“

Top Note’s Classic Tonic Water, one of the most award-winning tonic waters of the industry, has also been named “Double Gold and Best in Show” at the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Show last year and has frequently been deemed "Best Craft Tonic Water" by Liquor.com. Featuring all natural bitters of quinine, notes of lime zest, and real cane sugar, Top Note’s Classic Tonic Water has ⅓ less calories than other premium and commercial tonics and can be consumed with or without spirits. 

Top Note’s Tonic Bitter Lemon earned a gold medal and 91 points, and is made with all-natural cane sugar to balance the warm spice, bright citrus flavor of real lemon juice and natural gentian root extract. Bitter Lemon has earned a gold medal in past competitions also and, “It is a bartender favorite,” says Pellettieri.

Top Note’s Sparkling Grapefruit Soda earned a gold medal and 91 points, and is made with all-natural cane sugar to balance the tart, fresh citrus flavor of 15% real grapefruit juice and high-quality grapefruit peel extract. 

Top Note can be found on shelves across the country and is available to ship online nationwide. 

About Top Note 

Co-founded by Mary Pellettieri, Top Note is an award-winning line of craft mixers and soft drinks. Handcrafted in Milwaukee, Top Note uses premium ingredients to create complex and well-balanced mixers and soft drinks. With over 20 years of experience in craft beer quality, Mary brings a brewer's expertise in complex flavors to an industry where they were sorely lacking.