Apple and Man going to do better. (Britvic J20 Apple & Mango)

Member Name: scuba_angel

Product:	Britvic J20 Apple & Mango
Date:	31/05/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: refreshing, fruity no alcohol

Disadvantages: no alcohol

Finally the summer seems to have arrived! The arrival of the rather lovely warm glowy thing in the sky has brought with it my annual dilemma - remain lazy and 'podgey' *thanks honey love you too* or make a few changes to my diet and hope to lose a little of my hibernation weight.

Last year I threw myself in to a new exersize routine, a horrid experience which saw me huffing and crying my way around the local reservior most evenings (cry due to itchy eyes caused by hayfever I might add), so this year that plan is firmly out. The next one then, healthy eating attempts....sadly I love to go to the pub and more often than not my evening in the pub will after a few 'good' drinks vodka and diet mixers degenerate in to oh sod it ill have a bottle of that yummy pink wine, followed later on by umm am hungry ohh that kebab/pizza/chippy looks good.

So it was decided, step one reduce alcohol intake. Actually easier than it might at first seem, my OH doesnt drink much so I rarely drink when hes around, so just the other 6 nights a week when my mates want to go out for a quiet beer. Pubs these days are learning to stock more health concious choices - or at least pander to the ''diet'' everything brigade and a result of this a few years back was the introduction of the J20 range of fruit juices, served in a glass bottle and looking for all the world like a fruity alcopop which forgot to get the alcohol added!

So when arriving in the pub yesterday afternoon after a rather unpleasant afternoon sat on the side of a very humid swimming pool I was in dire need of a refreshing drink. At the bar it was on the tip of my tongue to request a nice yummy voddie and lemonade but the pub we were attending serves an overly sweet rather sickly lemonade brand and in the heat it would simply have left me more uncomfortable. So a quick scan of the bar fridges found what I was hoping for J2O, annoyingly for me on my preferred Orangey type but the Apple and Mango one. I am rather partial to mangoes so decided to give it a try.

The bottle is a standard size/shaped clear glass affair as you will find enclosing virtually all alcopops and beers, the colour of the 275ml of drink contained therein is a slightly less vivid orange colour reflecting the orangey hues of the mango but toned down by the green shades of the apple juice - in fact to me it looks almost like proper orange juice should (rather than the somewhat alarming shade most seem to be thanks to sweetners and colouring but i digress).

After purchasing the bottle I wandered back out to the picnic bench we had decided to inhabit recieving more than a few odd looks on the way (scuba simply isnt known as a not drinking kinda girl in that pub as it is a few minutes walk/15min stagger from home). The bottle as hoped was cool and pleasant in my hand the glass starting to 'sweat' slightly as condensation formed. Settling at the table I took my first swig curious as to the flavour of this offering.

Sweet but not too sweet was my first impression, a definite taste of mango with the apple as a subtle undertone. All in all rather yummy with a fresh aftertaste - the only thing missing was the hint of alcohol my tastebuds are accustomed to.

Frankly I was that warm that this first bottle didnt last much more than a couple of minutes before I was headed back to the bar for a second. Savouring this one alittle more I was pleased that even when given chance to warm up the drink remained refreshing and didnt suddenly convert to being horridly sickly at a certain temperature. Several bottles later it was time to leave and usually for me there was no craving for pink wine, kebab, pizza or chips and I was able to take the car home instead of leaving her abandoned in the pub carpark like a naughty puppy (my car is cute ok - or I'm simple take your pick).

So will these fit my somewhat more health concious attempts? Prehaps, the lack of alcohol meant no desire for greasy fatty food, equally not drinking a full bottle of wine to ones self must be far better than drinking said bottle of wine and I woke up early enough the next morning to go for a short run (ok i ran half mile from house to the start of the footpath and walked the other 2.5 miles). In itself each bottle of Apple and mango drink contains 118 calories or 6% of your daily recommended calorie limit - prehaps not so great after all then. Nonetheless I suspect these will be my tipple of choice for at least the next 3 weeks before my holidays, on their own they wont get me that perfect bikini body but who on earth wants to slim themselves in to looking like a boy with hips and then need to pad their bra to fill it?

At the pub one of these will set you back around £1.50, which is a pretty reasonable price to pay, bars and nightclubs obviously charge a horrendous premium as they do on all drinks, but while wandering around the supermarket I was pleased to spot these on offer at 2 packs of 4 for £5 which struck me as a very good deal so I loaded my trolley with several packs of each flavour.

Summary: A refreshing alternative to your typical pub drink.