Made in Scotland - from diet girders (Barr Irn Bru Diet)

Member Name: paranormalhandy

Product:	Barr Irn Bru Diet
Date:	02/05/09 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice taste, no calories, quirky TV adverts

Disadvantages: Still might be more sugar for some

The sweet, distinctively orange carbonated soda called Irn Bru (or, if its not made by Barrs, "Iron Brew") has been advertised for donkey's years as "Scotland's Other Nation Drink". This may not entirely be the case (I grew up on Kia-Ora, and never drank Irn Bru until I was in my twenties) but it certainly is up there with deep-fried Mars bars and three-legged wild haggis as a Scottish institution (although, unlike most others, it's not been laid on purely for the towrists).

So - what about the diet version, then? Well, I have been drinking it for several years now (it's generally available cheaply in multi-packs in Scottish supermarkets and is cheaper per ml than most other "name" fizzy diet drink). I can't think of the last time I actually bought ordinary "full fat" Irn Bru. Like the regular version, you can buy Diet in 250ml bottles, 330ml cans, 1l glass bottles (perfect for chip shops!) and 2l plastic bottles. And even the thought of a regular Irn Bru can, with its heavy orange colouring (rather than the Diet's silver and white motif) makes me feel ill and my teeth itch at the idea of the sugar.

Diet Irn Bru is a smoother drink, with a less acidic taste. It's possibly not as good a mixer, but when drunk on its own, particularly ice cold from the fridge, it really is one of the nicest, most flavoursome drinks around (even better than cans of diet Vimto!)

Okay, it's never going to be the equivalent of a healthy bean-sprout smoothie, but as soft drinks go it's less harmful than most, and far more tasty.

Summary: Irn Few (Disadvantages)